心に残る４１０字 3.11
もしもし？ああ、元気か？うん、うん。大変そうだな。いいか、今が踏ん張り時だ。負けるな。頑張れ。絶対に努力は実るから。それじゃ、またな。」「誰と話してたの？」「ん？過去の自分とさ。」
もしもし？ああ、げんきか？うん、うん。たいへんそうだな。いいか、いまがふんばりとき。まけるな。がんばれ。ぜったいにどりょくはみのるから。それじゃ、またな。」「だれとはなしてたの？」「ん？かこのじぶんとさ。」
“Hello? Hey, I’m worried about you, are you ok? Yep, yep. It seems like it must have been difficult. Look, it’s time to be strong now. Don't give in. Keep fighting. Your efforts will definitely be worth it in the end. Well, talk to you later.” “Who were you talking to?” “Huh? My past self”.
何も言わなくていい。あなたがいる。それだけでいいと、あの日心から思った。二度と会えなくてもいいから、どうか無事でいてと。だから何も言わなくていい。そばにいてくれなくてもいい。遠くても空の下、あなたがいる。それだけでいい。
なにもいわなくていい。あなたがいる。それだけでいいと、あのひこころからおもった。にどとあえなくてもいいから、どうかぶじでいてと。だからなにもいわなくていい。そばにいてくれなくてもいい。はやくてもそらのした、あなたがいる。それだけでいい。
“You don’t have to say anything. You’re alive. I am okay with just that, I thought from my heart that day. It’s okay even if we don’t meet again, somehow or another, please be safe. You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to stay with me. Even if you’re far away, under the sky you exist. I am fine with even just that.”
Tweets as Twitterature -
While not all tweets can be classified as Twitterature (tweet literature), both of the above tweets fall under the Twitterature category. The first tweet is written as if it were a conversation, while the other is directed at another person but through the context of the tweet, it is clear that the speaker is not speaking directly to the individual addressed.
The first tweet that was selected is a unique form of Twitterature because it evokes a sense of curiosity but leaves the reader rather perplexed at its meaning. It fits the bill as it falls under the general “guidelines” for it to be categorized as Twitterature. For example, the tweet starts out being very vague; the reader can understand that something bad has happened to the person being spoken to on the other end of the phone. However, because the tweet only provides one side of the conversation the reader is unaware of the nature of the problem. Due to the fact that the problem being experienced is not specifically stated the readers can put themselves in the position of the person experiencing the problem and therefore will likely relate to it more. However, the twist at the end, being that the initial speaker and the final speaker are the same person from two different periods in time, gives the story a second wind for the reader to learn and experience something more.
The second tweet also has unique aspects, which make it a prime example of Twitterature. For example, the entire tweet is vague, while most Twitterature goes on to become more specific at the end (like the first tweet) this one remains vague. This allows the readers to identify with the tweet based on their own experiences. The juxtaposition of the two tweets together is also important as the first reads as a conversation but the second is more like literature, it feels more like prose than the first tweet. This tweet also takes a tone of reluctant acceptance of the current situation. While the author continuously says that the situation is okay or that the person just being alive is enough, the continuous repetition of the line “its okay if you don’t—“ indicates that the author is trying to convince themselves that the situation is in fact okay.
Tweet 1: Translation rationale -
To understand the unique attributes of these tweets as a form of Twitterature, it is important to touch upon linguistic and cultural challenges or opportunities that were presented in these tweets.
The first challenge for the first tweet, in terms of linguistic challenges, was how to translate the tweet so that the reader could understand that the first speaker was someone who didn’t experience the problem first hand. However, there also needed to be a sense of closeness between the speaker and the listener. In Japanese, they can accomplish this by writing in the causal form, however, in English it is not as simple. Therefore, I chose to try to translate the tweet into a more colloquial version of my initial translations.
Another important linguistic challenge was trying to translate words that have more meaning in Japanese then the English translation. For example, in the second sentence, it asks “元気?” (are you well?). To translate this into English, I thought it was important to include the cultural significance behind this word as one which is only used when someone has not seen the person in a long time and is worried about their well being, instead of it simply meaning “how are you”.
My translation says “don’t give in” instead of another option, “don’t give up”. As there is no main difference between these two sayings, either could be used here. However, “don’t give in” seems to have the feeling of asking the person not to “give in” to the pressure, trauma, or whatever experience they are going through, which was more fitting for the theme of this tweet.
Tweet 2: Translation rationale -
The linguistic and cultural challenges for the second tweet were similar to those of the previous tweet. For example, the tweet is also originally written in the casual style, so it was important to properly convey that the speaker and the person who is the focus of the tweet were close while also explaining that they can no longer be physically close. Therefore, word choice was very important. There is also a repetition of the word いい (good) within different grammar patterns. Due to this, at first glance it seems as though the poem will be optimistic or happy in tone, however, at a closer look, we can see that this is, in fact, a grammar point which is used with negative verbs to mean “its okay if you don't--” or “you don’t have to--”. While the translation of this grammar point in English is more accurate to say, “its okay if you don’t --” it sounded a little sloppy and unnatural in English whereas “you don't have to—“ was more natural sounding.
The translation of the line “あなたがいる” was being taken a bit too literally in my previous translations and it seemed important to explain that not only does the person exist, but they are also alive, and from the tone of the tweet, doing fairly well after the disaster.
One of the main problems was the translation of“それだけでいい”. When taking the translation of this literally it misses out on the sense of resignation the person has about the situation. The initial translation of “simply that is okay” doesn't embody the full force of the tone of the tweet. As discussed previously, the author seems to be using this tweet as a way to convince themselves that the situation is okay, translating this final line as “I am fine with even just that” continues this narrative. By saying “just that” it shows that it is the minimum the author can deal with in the current reality. The original translation said, “That alone sound be enough” which was an attempt to fully show that the author is resigned to the situation and trying to convince themselves that this situation is okay. However, staying true to the Japanese grammar is one of the main goals of this translation. As such, the translation “I’m okay with just that” would be more accurate. This is slightly unnatural to say in English, although it still gets the main point across but loses some of the power of the meaning of “That alone should be enough”. That being said, it does a better job of being more grammatically accurate and doesn’t lose all of the feelings in the tweet.
Punctuation was also important, in my first translation, a comma was inserted in between the word “sky” and “you” in the second to final line. This caused the meaning of that line to change and become less clear, therefore it was necessary to think critically about not only the grammar and word choice, but also the placement of punctuation.