10/15 Comments - Samantha

It was interesting to read how Carpenter mentioned needing to have a full understanding of the text before one starts translating it. Which of course makes sense, but I feel like this is really highlighted when reading translations of texts that are still in ongoing serialization. I'm talking about this in the context of something like a weekly serialized manga for example, where the entire text is not complete but translations are occasionally done in tandem with or maybe only a few weeks behind the Japanese release. And it does seem that as a result there are often corrections that need to be made after the fact, whether it be certain gendered pronouns, the romanization of names, etc.

Reading how different writers who were fluent in multiple languages approached translation was also quite interesting. In the case of Binard, he was able to take a lot more liberties that a translator would not be able to get away with which I thought was interesting. Even in the case of Mizumura, she didn't appear comfortable translating the entire novel but was able to write in more context for western readers.

Another thing that was highlighted in the readings was the need to seek feedback, not only from the author if able, but also other knowledgable individuals on both the English and the Japanese speaking side.