Thread by @ActuallyAmelia

My first thought on "Should translations be done by translators of the same gender as the author?" was of the many threads by LGBTQ+ people on how the experience of being closeted informed their creation and interpretation of media. They see significance I don't always catch. 🧵

https://twitter.com/DistantValhalla/status/1314129756376494082

One example is the "Utena turns into a car" scene from Adolescence of Utena. I recall mainstream discussion of that scene being dominated by "Wow, Japanese animators can do whatever quirky thing they want!" for ages. The queer reading seems obvious now, thanks to queer viewers.

Language patterns between AFAB and AMAB people are different thanks to socialisation into gender roles. But translators need to be able to write both. As @CDCubed said, empathy is the job. So more than gender, I think connection to the emotional core of the subject matter is key.

That said, it's easier for people outside the cishet experience of people of the dominant race of their country to connect to those people's stories because we get so much exposure to them. There's nuance to this, and no standardised "correct" way to deal with it.

Often I don't think it'll matter, but it's important for stories centring marginalised people (real or not). Being othered is a common experience but with many intersections. Half-white Japanese people are othered differently in Japan vs US, differently again to Black ha-fu.

As a mixed race person myself, white and Indian, I'd love to read a half-white woman's memoirs of growing up in India. But I don't think my demographic makes me more qualified to translate her story than a half-white or a Black man who grew up in India. Intersectionality is key.

Though I think that raises another important point: reader expectations. I would care about translator ID for memoirs because those imply authenticity. And authenticity for certain experiences is hard to capture unless you've lived it. Sci-fi about cishet characters? I care less.

But fiction can still be jarring if the voice is off. In ep 1 of AniFem's Michiko and Hatchin watchalong I said I liked Michiko's dub accent, only for @LizzieVisitante to (kindly!) say it didn't resonate with their experience. I cringed! Who was I to comment?! I listened instead.

Because that's the thing: people of the dominant identity WILL NOT NOTICE when a voice unlike theirs is off. But people intimately familiar with that voice will pick up on it instantly and may struggle to immerse. That's why white saviour narratives win both Oscars and protests.

(And also why right-wing sock puppet accounts with Black avatars and embarrassing AAVE attempts never work on Black Twitter, while white Twitter all too often takes them seriously and feeds the trolls all the outrage and exposure they want. Remember #YourSlipIsShowing ?)

The original question cut industry diversity from considerations, but I don't think you can. I suspect the voices of white men are over-represented in this conversation, on Twitter and in the spaces where translators are hired. Of course the conclusion will be in their favour.

All kinds of translators are making excellent, thoughtful points about the complexities of this question. But I see potential for the takeaway to be "It doesn't matter!" when it should be "Most white male translators feel capable of translating most experiences equally well."