Essay Interpreting: an intimate art By Linda Hoaglund	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
字幕翻訳は親密な芸術 今月のエッセーは、日本の映画を世界で紹介する上で欠かせない役割を果たしている、映像翻訳家のリンダ・ホーグランドさんが執筆します。 彼女が『幻の女』で是枝監督と仕事をしたときの経験を中心に、この世界に入ったきっかけや、仕事をする上で大切に思っていることを語ってくれました。

Although I carry a well-stamped American passport, my true identity straddles the U.S., the country I live in, and Japan, the land of my childhood. My fluency in these two languages has provided me access to exotic places around the world, from Tierra del Fuego to Machu Pichu, to film festivals in Cannes, Istanbul, and Sarajevo. It has also given me the privilege of collaborating with some of the most original creators in the world, all mavericks who dominate their fields. Among them are Kabuki star Kanzaburo Nakamura; author Natsuo Kirino; Scottish actor/director Peter Mullan; late director Kinji Fukasaku; artist superstar Takashi Murakami; and animator Hayao Miyazaki.

Because I believe translating and interpreting are intimate art forms, impossible without mutual trust, the artists and I have spent many hours getting to know each other. I have marveled at their independence, enjoyed their acerbic humor, envied their resolute characters and tried to soak up some of their courage.

I took my first step toward realizing my dream of working in the Japanese film business a dozen years ago when I was hired to interpret for director Hirokazu Kore-eda. He was traveling the international film circuit with his celebrated debut, "Maborosi," a quiet meditation on loss and mourning. Although I had worked as a bilingual producer in television for years, this was the first time I was interpreting in front of an audience. I found myself instinctively reaching for the first-person singular "I" to represent Kore-eda's poignant insights as they traveled through my body, mostly my heart and my brain, and emerged through my voice in English. Frankly, it never occurred to me to say, "He said ..." Using "I" revealed how I had sublimated my conscious self, temporarily surrendering it to him, the better to capture and convey his thoughts and emotions.

Later, I met Japanese film professionals who were impressed by how I interpreted not just Kore-eda's statements but also the meaning and nuance he invested in them. They were eager to introduce me to other directors and producers and within several years I was subtitling nearly 20 Japanese movies a year, often accompanying their directors to festivals around the world.

I have learned over the years that whether in translation (the written word) or interpretation (the spoken), it is just as important to impart the author or speaker's tone, as it is to translate the meaning of his words. To accomplish this it is essential to plunge into their thoughts and feelings and to have a wealth of vocabulary in both languages. Subtitling involves translating words composed by writers and directors but articulated by professional actors, a combination that gives me great access to each word's meaning.

Shukan ST: Oct. 5, 2007

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