[ SECRET POST #4887 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4887 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 61 secrets from Secret Submission Post #700.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 - too big ], [ 1 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Not OP

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know how common it is to refer to oneself in the third person in eastern languages either (granted, I don't speak all of them). Are you sure that character isn't meant to have a big ego or be somewhat unusual even in the original?

Re: Not OP

[(Anonymous)]

Well, a six-year-old child and the wife of a soldier, neither of whom are full of themselves. And none of the other characters have indicated that either person is "special" in any way. And weirdly, the child randomly starts talking in first person by the middle of the story.

But the entire translation had issues all around. That was just one of them.

Re: Not OP

[(Anonymous)]

"IMO, just because it's "official" doesn't make it less weird. I've seen characters referring to themselves in the third person in the official, professional translation of a video game, and it just came off as very awkward. It's probably fine in eastern countries, idk, but in western countries, referring to yourself in the third person gives the impression you're weird or that you have a big ego."

This. A character using "ore" or even "ore-sama" tells you something very specific about them, and perhaps the only way that's communicated in written English is in third person. (In voiced work you can use tone, of course.)

Re: Not OP

[(Anonymous)]

Referring to yourself in third-person in Japanese never means a big ego, it means a little kid or a woman who acts really cutesy and childish. But most people who watch anime know this, or can pick it up from context. That's how I figured out what it meant when I was new to anime. It's also, as far as I know, almost strictly an anime thing except maybe for literal two-year-olds or extreme otaku girls putting on a persona.

I don't think it needs translation to first-person speech, because it's not about language, it's about cultural connotations, and like I said, very easy to pick up what it means from context.

Re: Not OP

[(Anonymous)]

If it's "baby talk" then it's not unique to the Japanese language, especially if used by actual children. Don't think that really needed to be translated into first person in the case of the six year old.

Re: Not OP

[(Anonymous)]

The point is, if it's translated to English, it is very unusual for a person to refer to themselves in 3rd person. Someone in in the US, for example, will find it strange because children tend to not refer to themselves this way (and I'd argue a lot of western folks would not). Even with best intentions, some things don't necessarily have to carry over. Or they can be depicted in a different way. Some lady is supposed to be cutesy and childish? Well, can't she say stuff in a cutesy and childish way without resorting to 3rd person?

Let me flip that around. If a character with a big ego in a western cartoon refers to themselves in the 3rd person, would it be best to leave it as is during the translation, and just let other audiences figure it out through context that this isn't a childish character? (though some might argue the character is childish either way, heh)

I should note I'm referring to stories that are not set in eastern countries, or not necessarily even in our world. I'd probably just shrug if it were a manga set in Japan, because I think the cultural argument would have more weight.

I'm also not trying to give anyone a hard time. I find this discussion fascinating, because I do think in the end, translators want the same thing, but might have different ideas of how to accomplish that.