Meredith McKinney: Specific Cases

McKinney is an experienced and talented translator who listens to the passage she wants to translate instead of approaching the text with tactics. She started off her lecture by pointing out the concept of identifying a text from a distance, bringing herself to listen to the text and what it's trying to express. Translation is speaking through another voice while remaining passionately dispassionate. One has to control the urge to project their voice onto the original text.

When talking about how to approach Japanese to English translation, McKinney mentioned that ambiguity plays a crucial role. The meaning of one word can span a spectrum of meanings, and the translator has to make the call. McKinney listed numerous examples of how previous translators, Brazell and Whitehouse, approached specific translation cases. I was completely shocked to see how different translators handled the same text, especially in interpreting meanings totally differently or adding new meanings.

Another interesting aspect is that McKinney talked about the change in her first draft to the final draft, how she identified the bias in her approach to translation. McKinney thought the narrator, Nijo, was a sad woman, which made her grow more sympathetic in translating her words. However, after reading more into the text, McKinney realized Nijo is not what she previously thought and has more character in her. So McKinney had to adapt and change her approach.

Lastly, McKinney talked about different translation habits. For her, she likes to translate the first time as she reads it (in recent times). It is not necessary to read other translators' work previously or to read the whole work again before translation. However, big changes will be made from the first to the final draft of translation. In general, McKinney offered many insights into specific cases of Japanese translation, which is extremely useful in comparative studies.

-Kerry