(no subject)
Jan. 28th, 2008 04:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackThe Spirited Away I saw was subtitled. Fairly clearly, as far as I can tell. Although a few things made me think.
* Watching all the different ways "Hai" is translated is fascinating -- almost every one was different, and almost every one was accurate and natural.
* The concept of "taking away most of a name" is difficult to translate, in that "Sen" isn't a clear fragment of "Chihiro" in English, but came across in the end.
* If you were willing to change the names, you might choose English names which can be drastically contracted, although that leaves the question of what happens to naturally short names, although you could certainly lose your middle and surnames as well. If you were rewriting the concept from scratch, you might choose to abbreviate some names as, "Mr Firstinitial" or similar, that would convey an equivalent idea. Of course, thinking about translating concepts like this is just musing, the concept is simple enough you understand even if the language is foreign to you.
* The black spirit with a white mask was called a "No Face". To me this seemed odd, wouldn't "Faceless" or "Faceless spirit" be a more natural translation with exactly the same meaning? Is there a historical reason for "No Face", eg. that being a traditional description of a similar being in traditional Japanese legend? Or is it a more precise translation in some way I don't understand? It wasn't just this translation, its referred to as "No Face" on wikipedia and many webpages.
* Not specifically translation, but what's the story with the No Face? I found it sympathetic though occasionally creepy -- which I think is appropriate. Wikipedia suggested it reflected emotions around it, becoming a monster in reaction to the greed of the people in the bath-house. Does that sound right?
If so, is it still rational to be fond of it, if its otherwise niceness was equally arbitrary? Would a good analogy be being fond of a befriended dangerous animal -- not itself capable or moral decisions, and dangerous if badly handled, but that *you* have a bond with?
* Watching all the different ways "Hai" is translated is fascinating -- almost every one was different, and almost every one was accurate and natural.
* The concept of "taking away most of a name" is difficult to translate, in that "Sen" isn't a clear fragment of "Chihiro" in English, but came across in the end.
* If you were willing to change the names, you might choose English names which can be drastically contracted, although that leaves the question of what happens to naturally short names, although you could certainly lose your middle and surnames as well. If you were rewriting the concept from scratch, you might choose to abbreviate some names as, "Mr Firstinitial" or similar, that would convey an equivalent idea. Of course, thinking about translating concepts like this is just musing, the concept is simple enough you understand even if the language is foreign to you.
* The black spirit with a white mask was called a "No Face". To me this seemed odd, wouldn't "Faceless" or "Faceless spirit" be a more natural translation with exactly the same meaning? Is there a historical reason for "No Face", eg. that being a traditional description of a similar being in traditional Japanese legend? Or is it a more precise translation in some way I don't understand? It wasn't just this translation, its referred to as "No Face" on wikipedia and many webpages.
* Not specifically translation, but what's the story with the No Face? I found it sympathetic though occasionally creepy -- which I think is appropriate. Wikipedia suggested it reflected emotions around it, becoming a monster in reaction to the greed of the people in the bath-house. Does that sound right?
If so, is it still rational to be fond of it, if its otherwise niceness was equally arbitrary? Would a good analogy be being fond of a befriended dangerous animal -- not itself capable or moral decisions, and dangerous if badly handled, but that *you* have a bond with?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-28 08:37 pm (UTC)Yes! Because then it will be fond of you. friends++
(no subject)
From: