THE CLASH BETWEEN HONORIFICS IN THE ENGLISH LOCALISATION OF JAPANESE MEDIA

This study examines the translation of Japanese texts from various media into English, with a particular focus on the localisation of honorifics—a distinctive feature of the source culture—into the target language. The analysis explores the extent to which Japanese honorifics are localised in English translations, identifying two primary translation strategies: total localisation, wherein all Japanese honorifics are substituted with their English counterparts, and partial localisation, in which some or all honorifics are retained in their original form. The paper specifically addresses the six most commonly used honorifics—-san, -kun, -chan, -sama, sensei, and senpai—which often present challenges in the localisation process due to their nuanced functions in conveying interpersonal relationships. To assess the effectiveness of these strategies in preserving the varying degrees of social hierarchy implied by the Japanese honorific system, a comparative analysis will be conducted on English translations of texts from manga, light novels, anime, and video games. These texts, sourced from both official and independent translations, employ one or both localisation strategies and will be evaluated for their ability to convey the intended cultural subtleties.