Technicolor Thai Translations versus Monochromatic English Translations of Japanese TV Dialogues

Abstract

Speakers possess a linguistic repertoire of various codes (languages) and speech styles such as regional dialects, registers of (in)formality, and sociolects indexing gender, sexuality, neurodivergence, and more. Speakers alternate among these styles to express multiple identities, shifting relationships, and changing stances (i.e., speaker’s attitude toward a topic, message). Japanese entertainment media masterfully deploys Japanese speech styles and their associated linguistic features (e.g., pronouns, verb forms) to develop storylines. However, these indexical features are largely lost in English-translated subtitles, resulting in one-dimensional characters, flatter interactions, and storylines with less depth while erasing the voices of marginalized groups (e.g., regional, LGBTQIA+) and perpetuating images of a monolithic Japan. The current study investigates the degree of erasure of Japanese speech styles in Thai translations of several TV shows. English appears to act as a pivot language in streaming platforms such as Netflix whereby Japanese is translated into English and then, into a third language like Thai, reflecting English translation/linguistic constraints. Yet, direct Japanese-to-Thai translations appear to allow for more accurate representation of these shared indexical features (e.g., multiple first- and second-pronouns, verb forms) and their associated speech styles and thereby, create richer characters, interactions, and stories.