Why did she call Yubaba 'Granny'??
This is bothering me. Zeniba tells Chihiro to call her Granny, and she does. But I can't figure out why she also calls Yubaba Granny at the end of the movie.
That's in the English dub, I suppose. It's more interesting in Japanese; Chihiro calls Yubaba 'Obaa-san' throughout; the usual polite form of address from a young girl to an older woman. At the end of the film, when she and Haku return to the bathhouse, she calls her 'Obaa-chan', an affectionate term such as she would use to her own grandmother. Yubaba notices this and is surprised and somewhat disarmed. I think it means that Chihiro now feels confident and is not afraid of her any more.
This is the sort of nuance that's impossible to translate.
"This is the sort of nuance that's impossible to translate"
I guess that is why they the English dubb (or even English subtitles) are going to be slightly different no matter how hard they try.
I think (and I am just going on assumption here) it was a real labor of love for John Lasseter to be in charge of the English version since he was/is such a huge Miyazaki fan and I would assume he would want to get as close as possible to the original. (Am I wrong?)
BUT with that said ... maybe they should have used "Grandma" or "Auntie" instead of "Granny" because I can't be the only one who was confused.
Well, saying "Obaa-san", as I understand it, is not like saying "Auntie", which still sounds rather intimate and affectionate. (Many British children are taught to address their parents' friends like this, but you wouldn't say it to a stranger.) There isn't really an equivalent in British English; in American English it might be like saying "Ma'am". Which is why it's surprising when she switches to "Obaa-chan", which is like saying "Granny".
A tiny point, but interesting. In my language studies - at which I am really bad - we have got to the stage where you don't try to translate, just understand.
That's the point right before you can wade into political discussions and make jokes. Once you are no longer starting to formulate your thoughts in English to translate them as you speak, you're pretty much there. It's all just vocab, grammar technicalities and practice after that,
shareAnd kanji...
I took it to mean that she is now more confidant in Yubaaba's presence, but also that she may now regard the Yubaaba/Zeniba pair as two halves of the same person. This is a theme that is explored throughout the film, beginning with Chihiro's reaction to the two-faced kami statue.
shareI'm at this point with English, it's quite annoying actually. My mother tends to ask me to translate for her when she's reading and sees a word she doesn't know, however, these days I often find it difficult to translate a word because I never translate it in my head, and I don't know a perfect word for it in my language. I understand it, but I just can't perfectly translate it.
shareFor a long time I've wished they'd do both a Westernized translation (which what we get in these cases, with Japanese idioms being removed and replaced with stuff we're familiar with) and just a straight 'warts & all' direct translation that's word for word as possible, no matter how stilted and nonsensical it would be. This would never happen of course, there's no need for it beyond satisfying the curiosity of a dork like myself.
shareYou can't translate word for word, the languages are too different. For example, if you want to say that yesterday was cold, or the party was fun, it's the adjective that goes into the past tense, not the verb. There's no future tense, there are no plurals, no articles and no proper pronouns. There are lots of other strange things instead, to confuse us unfortunate learners!
shareRight, that's why I said "word for word as possible." My "problem" is that I know just enough Japanese that when I watch with Japanese dialogue and English subtitles, I can often tell when the subtitle bears almost zero resemblance to what the character actually said, and it just makes me more and more curious. A good translator worries more about getting the point and tone across more than just the actual words.
shareHey, Druff, sounds as if you and I are at about the same stage in learning the language - ears tuned, mind engaged, brain baffled. Difficult, isn't it? But fun.
shareYes! It's actually been a few years for me, I was really into it starting about 20 years ago when I first began importing Japanese video games, which led to movies and books, and I tried to learn what I could in my spare time. I cooled off on it several years ago, I've already forgotten a lot unfortunately. But yes, so much fun!
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