Article published In:
BabelVol. 66:3 (2020) ► pp.457–483
Cultural adaptations
Translating politeness from Japanese to English
Anne Becker | Schools of Isolated and Distance Education Western Australia
Linguistic and pragmatic aspects of the translation of politeness in contemporary novels were examined under the
theoretical framework of Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) (Toury 1995) and
Newmark’s functional theory (1988). The analysis revealed that linguistic expressions
tied to socio-cultural meaning and values were often neutralised due to the avoidance of creating non-normal target text
expressions. Normalising culture-specific expressions was a strategy adopted by translators, enabling target language readers to
relate to the stories according to their own cultural understanding. Notable differences in strategies to render texts were found
across translators. From an educational perspective, this research provides realistic examples for intercultural language teaching
and learning. An important implication is that the findings highlight the fact that, unlike European languages that share roots
with English, a universal theory and approach to translation is not viable due to socio-cultural meaning and values that are
specific to Japanese culture. The study also contributes to social psychology and consideration of the role of culture in
understanding universal and culturally specific values and the attribution of meaning in collectivist and individualist
societies.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical foundations
- 3.Methodology
- 4.Data analysis
- 4.1Japanese honorifics
- 4.2General politeness
- 4.3Formulaic expressions of politeness
- 5.Discussion
- 6.Conclusions
-
References
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