Carpenter Readings - Alex

One thing I really liked was how Carpenter compares translation to coloring in a coloring book in the article Jumping Into the Pond. Indeed, translators are given the liberty to do "whatever they want" as long as they follow the outlines provided by the original text. However, a discussion in the same article about translating for a bilingual book made me revisit and reconsider this statement. While usually you are "not trying to explain the original, but instead recreate the story", in a bilingual text that's not entirely true -- you have to recreate the original to some extent otherwise the texts won't match -- the original will be there alongside your translation. How do you "recreate the story" in this case? You can't substitute onigiri with donuts anymore -- the reader will be confused thinking onigiri means "donut" because they will try to match the translation with the original. 

Perhaps one way -- and this way is in no way unique to bilingual texts -- is to weave an explanation into the text. As explained by Carpenter in her interview regarding her translation of A True Novel, her translation included a long description of the history of Karuizawa for the benefit of the western reader. I'm assuming this specific location is central to the plot of the story, therefore a description of Karuizawa for those unfamiliar with the location is necessary. It also surprised me in this instance that the description was actually written by Mizumura herself before being translated by Carpenter and inserted into the story. I didn't think this was possible in translation; this extent of discussion and collaboration between author and translator to have the author write something for the translation, and I think this really shows how translation is not a one-person job but a group endeavor.