ABSTRACT

Within the framework of world literature, crime fiction can be translated, read, and studied by new target audiences to expand their knowledge of different cultures. The translation of Japanese crime fiction into English poses many challenges, especially regarding the socio-cultural aspects. The representation of Japanese social and organisational hierarchy through socio-linguistic features in the character interactions is particularly complex for readers with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds to understand, and may lead to a reliance on stereotypes. Therefore, a translator needs to give careful consideration to this issue. This paper explores the strategies for translating the hierarchical features of character interactions employed by the translator of 64 (Six Four), a novel by award-winning crime fiction author Hideo Yokoyama. Through this analysis, we propose a guideline to assist translators adopt a conscious approach to translating hierarchy, which will provide readers with a more nuanced understanding of how hierarchy functions in Japanese society. We demonstrate that the translation of crime fiction has the ability to enable readers to overcome barriers resulting from linguistic and cultural differences to gain a new understanding of different societies.

摘要

在世界文学的框架内，新的目标受众可以翻译、阅读和研究犯罪小说，以扩展他们对不同文化的了解。将日本犯罪小说翻译成英文带来了许多挑战，尤其是在社会文化方面。日本社会和组织等级通过字符交互中的社会语言特征的表征对于具有不同语言和文化背景的读者来说尤其复杂，并且可能导致对刻板印象的依赖。因此，译者需要仔细考虑这个问题。本文探讨了64（六四）译者采用的字符交互层次特征的翻译策略，屡获殊荣的犯罪小说作家横山英夫的小说。通过这一分析，我们提出了一个指导方针，以帮助译者采用有意识的方法来翻译等级，这将使读者对日本社会中等级的运作方式有更细致的理解。我们证明犯罪小说的翻译有能力让读者克服语言和文化差异造成的障碍，从而对不同的社会有新的理解。