PRELIMINARY DIRECTIONS IN COMPILING A RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS TRANSLATING BETWEEN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE FOCUSING ON WORDPLAY

Abstract

This article considers the issues that arise in translating between different languages and cultures with a focus on wordplay. Finding appropriate equivalences can be a complicated process that goes beyond linguistic limitations to cultural interpretations of meaning. Wordplay can serve as an aspect that exist as additional elements of information and a means to create a specific atmosphere within the narrative. This can often be reliant on cultural cues, especially in the case of children’s fantasy series wherein culturally specific references to folktales may be subtly interwoven into the tale using wordplay. This can then lead to complications when being translated. As such, this is a venture into how the wordplay in Harry Potter has been translated into Japanese with the intent to use this data to create a resource for students studying translation between the two languages by acknowledging the conflicting needs of clarity and amusement.