JAITS

博論要旨

博士論文要旨
本会のメルドラム由香理会員が 2009 年に以下の博士論文を University of Alberta に提出し、博士号を授与されました。以下にその概要を紹介します。

論文題目：Contemporary Translationese in Japanese Popular Literature
提出機関：University of Alberta
提出者：Yukari Fukuchi Meldrum
提出年月：2009 年
Abstract of the thesis submitted to the University of Alberta in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Translation Studies:
One of the main aims of this thesis is to examine the translational situation of popular fiction in postindustrial Japan. Specifically, the goal is to uncover two main aspects surrounding the phenomenon oftranslationese, the language used in translation. One aspect to be investigated is the characteristic featuresof Japanese translationese, and the other is readers’ attitudes toward translationese. This research is
conducted within the framework of Descriptive Translation Studies (Toury, 1995). The literature review
includes a background of how translationese has been approached previously and how methods fromdifferent fields (e.g., corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics) can be used in the research of translation.
Through the review of the historical background of Japanese translationese and the development ofJapanese writing styles, it is revealed that the translation norm in Japan had been very closely oriented
toward the original text.
In the text analysis, the corpora consist of translations from English and non-translations (i.e.,originally written in Japanese) in the genre of popular fiction. The goal of the text analysis is to determine
whether the features of translationese are actually characteristics of translationese. The features selected
for this examination include the following: 1) overt personal pronouns; 2) more frequent loanwords; 3)
female specific language; 4) abstract nouns as grammatical subjects of transitive verbs; and 5) longerparagraphs. Two features (third person pronouns and longer paragraphs) are shown to be characteristic oftranslationese, while others were proven otherwise or questionable (loan words, female language, abstract
nouns as subjects of transitive verbs).

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『通訳翻訳研究』No.9 (2009)

Findings from the investigation of readers’ attitudes can help identify what constitutes the “norms” oftranslation (Toury, 1995, 1999) in Japanese society. Readers appear to be able to tell the difference
between translation and non-translation. However, readers’ attitudes toward both translationese and nontranslationese are more or less neutral or slightly positive. This may indicate that Japanese translationesehas become integrated into the contemporary Japanese writing system and that readers do not regard
translationese as overtly negative. This study shows that the major translation norm is becoming moredomesticated translation in popular fiction, with the focus on making translations easier for the readers.
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【著者紹介】
Yukari Fukuchi Meldrum (メルドラム由香理) is a Certified Translator (Canada) and teaches JapaneseEnglish translation courses at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Alberta. Her main
research interest is the Japanese language that is used in translation. Contact her at ymeldrum@ualberta.ca.

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