The Impact of Indirect Translation on the Representation of Gender in Kafka on the Shore: An Analysis of Female Characters' Speech in the Context of Translation

Document Type : Research Article

Author

فرزانه مرادی

Tehran University.Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature

https://doi.org/10.22067/lts.2025.95066.1380

Abstract

The analysis of the spoken style of fictional characters is significant because gender identity in literary texts is largely constructed through characters’ speech patterns and tone. Examining this in translation can reveal how gender roles are transferred or transformed. Drawing on Lakoff’s (1975) and Tannen’s (1990) models of language and gender, this study investigates the speech styles of three main female characters in Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore, in the original Japanese and in its two Persian translations. The data comprise 150 utterances, analyzed based on indicators such as indirect questions, conversational tone, and mitigation of criticism. The Persian translations were produced indirectly, using Philip Gabriel’s English version as the source. The findings suggest that mediation through English has led to the reduction or omission of some stylistic features of feminine speech, underscoring the importance of accurately conveying tone and gendered nuances in indirect translations.

Highlights

 

Keywords

Intermediary Translation

Feminine Speech Style

Language and Gender

Japanese Language

Murakami

Subjects

• Translation Studies

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References