ラノベの英訳ってそんなにヒドイの…？
先日、ComiPressにChloe Fergusonさんの記事、Going Lighter（ライトになる）が掲載されました。記事の内容は、アメリカにおけるラノベが増える一方、売れ行きがマンガほど良くないとのこと。原因として、フルサイズの小説でも絵の多いマンガでもなく、中間にある微妙な本であることで、書店は店内のどこに展示するのか迷うらしい。ラノベが思ったより売れないもう一つの理由は、原作の優れない文章、または英訳が低レベルだと指摘する。以下が翻訳に関する記述です：
Accordingly, the translations in light novels are often hampered by both the translator's ability and the original material itself: the books aren't exactly masterful prose even in Japanese, something that is apt to come out in a less than inspired English translation.
面白いことに、ComiPressでコメントが書き込めないので、リンクを紹介したMangaBlogに翻訳者のJohn Thomasさんが反論しました。Johnさん曰く、文章のぎこちなさは翻訳者のせいというよりは、原文にあると述べた。Toren Smithさんは、原文をベースに、ストーリーやキャラクターの真の姿を上手く伝えた翻訳（意訳含む）が良い翻訳であって、ただの直訳を求めるファンを批判しました。（私の下手な説明より、できれば元の記事とコメントを読んでください…）
私もついつい意見を出し、出版に関するもう一つの問題点を指摘しました。出版社は最近リライターが本来すべき役割を、翻訳者にお願いしていて（経費軽減のため？）、文章をよりスムーズにするプロのライターが出版プロセスにいなくなったと。私は必要に応じてリライトをやっていいけど、翻訳だけをしたいのが本音です。（出版社はリライターをカットすることで、その分の経費が浮きますが、翻訳者は翻訳料金しかもらえないのに、2倍の仕事をさせられます。それに、すでにキツイ翻訳のスケジュールに、更にリライト作業を組み込まなきゃいけないんです。納得いかない仕組みです！） (>_<)
アメリカのマンガ出版プロセスや翻訳に関して興味がある方は、MangaBlogのコメント覧を是非読んでください：MangaBlog
Are Light Novel English translations that bad...?
Earlier this week, Chloe Ferguson posted an article on ComiPress titled, Going Lighter. The article pointed out that while the number of light novels increased in the US, they might not be selling as well as manga. One of the reasons is because the light novel wasn't really a full-size novel, nor a manga book full of pictures -- it's somewhere in the middle -- so the bookstores were never sure which section to put them in for display. Another reason light novels don't sell well is either the original's not so great writing or that the translation itself might not be up to par. Below is her quote regarding translation:
Accordingly, the translations in light novels are often hampered by both the translator's ability and the original material itself: the books aren't exactly masterful prose even in Japanese, something that is apt to come out in a less than inspired English translation.
Since readers cannot comment on the ComiPress article itself, John Thomas responded on MangaBlog which introduced the link to the article. According to John, the clunkiness of the translation lies not with the translator but from the clunkiness of the original text more often than not. Also, Toren Smith pointed out that a good translation shows a story and characters' true form, using the original Japanese text as the base. (My paraphrasing sucks, so please read the original article and followup comments...)
I also pitched in, bringing up a different problem regarding publishing. Publishers seem to have cut out the rewriter, and instead, asked the translator to take up the rewriting role as well (to reduce costs?) I don't mind rewriting if the project calls for it, but I prefer to just translate. (By cutting out the rewriter, the publisher saves money, but translators are only paid for translation, but are asked to double their workload. Also, the rewriting process has to be squeezed into an already tight translation schedule. Not a great setup by any means!) (>_<)
For those interested in the US manga/novel publishing process and/or translation, please read MangaBlog
