May 8, 2017

SWET May Talk Shop

Workshop: Cultural Translation and the Information Gap

Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Time: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:00 p.m. for visiting)
Place: Books on Japan (library), Jinbocho, Tokyo; at the Jinbocho subway stop, go out the A2 exit; at street level, turn left, go 12 steps, and look for a doorway at the left side of the Megane Drug メガネ・ドラッグ store saying “Books on Japan”; take the stairs to the 2nd floor. http://www.booksonjapan.org/location/
Fee: Free of charge
RSVP: This workshop will be limited to 9 participants, who will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. Reserve your place in advance at SWET. As of May 9, there are still 5 seats open--don't hesitate to get in touch!

Japanese and English readers come from different cultural backgrounds. References that are familiar to the former, whether from tradition or popular culture, may baffle the latter. Translator Richard Medhurst works for the website Nippon.com, which translates articles focused on Japan into English and other languages. At the May Talk Shop, he will lead a workshop tackling cultural translation for the general reader, considering how to handle the “information gap” between the two kinds of readers.

Please sign up at events[at]swet.jp in advance as places in the room are limited. Those who have signed up will receive a copy of the sample texts to be translated and discussed by about a week before the workshop.