Japanese–english Translation (an Advanced Guide)

This textbook is for aspiring translators of Japanese into English, as well as a reference work for professional translators and for translator educators. Underpinned by sound theoretical principles, it provides a solid foundation in the practice of Japanese-English translation, then extends this to more advanced levels.

This volume is a textbook for aspiring translators of Japanese into English, as well as a reference work for professional Japanese–English translators and for translator educators. Underpinned by sound theoretical principles, it provides a solid foundation in the practice of Japanese–English translation, then extends this to more advanced levels. Features include:

• 13 thematic chapters, with subsections that explore common pitfalls and challenges facing Japanese–English translators and the pros and cons of different procedures
• exercises after many of these subsections
• abundant examples drawn from a variety of text types and genres and translated by many different translators

This is an essential resource for postgraduate students of Japanese–English translation and Japanese language, professional Japanese–English translators and translator educators. It will also be of use and interest to advanced undergraduates studying Japanese.

Contents

1 Words

2 Word Groups and Figurative Language

3 Names

4 Numbers

5 Technicalities

6 Recurring Grammatical Issues

7 Rhetorical Hedging and Indirectness

8 Register, Tone, Emphasis, Repetition and Parallelism

9 The Spoken Word

10 Non-standard Varieties of Language

11 Languages Interacting

12 Translators at Play

13 Discourse-level Issues

Judy Wakabayashi is Professor of Japanese Translation at Kent State University, Ohio. With experience as an in-house and freelance translator, she has taught Japanese–English translation to postgraduate students in Australia and the United States for over three decades. She has co-edited four books on translation—Asian Translation Traditions (2005), Decentering Translation Studies: India and Beyond (2009), Translation and Translation Studies in the Japanese Context (2012) and Translating and Interpreting in Korean Contexts: Engaging with Asian and Western Others (2019)—and translated seven books.