A Study of the Thai Translation and Cultural Reception of <i>Convenience Store Woman</i> by Sayaka Murata

WIRIYAENAWAT, Piyanuch

doi:2020.11.1.135

The Journal of Japanese Language Literature Studies > Volume 11(1); 2020 > Article

Special Issue

Border Crossings: The Journal of Japanese-Language Literature Studies 2020;11(1): 135-151.
doi: https://doi.org/10.22628/bcjjl.2020.11.1.135

A Study of the Thai Translation and Cultural Reception of Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

Piyanuch WIRIYAENAWAT

Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Thammasat University

村田沙耶香コンビニ人間 ―― タイにおけるその翻訳と文化の受容をめぐって

ピヤヌット·ウィリヤエナワット

(タイ)タマサート大学日本語講座助教授。

Correspondence Piyanuch WIRIYAENAWAT ,Email: piyanuchwiri@gmail.com

Published online: 30 December 2020.

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

ABSTRACT

This article examines the translation of Convenience Store Woman by Murata Sayaka, the original of which received the 155^th Akutagawa prize for Japanese literature. In addition, this article analyzes how the Thai general public and Thai Japanese-learners read this work. The book was warmly welcomed by Thai readers, and was one of the five bestselling books in Thailand between 2018 and 2019. Many Thai readers commented that this work centered around the issue of “normality” in modern society, and some of them had sympathy for the protagonist. The translator faced a problem in rendering culture-specific terms in Thai, and she employed transliteration and specification strategies to resolve it, which helped Thai readers to comprehend Japanese culture more vividly. Unlike Thai readers in general, Thai Japanese-learners focused on a wide range of dimensions of the book, including its portrayal of Japanese work habits and occupational culture, gender in Japanese society, “convenience store” culture, and the problem of sub-replacement fertility rates. For these reasons it seems inarguable that this book is a masterpiece that reflects the richness of Japanese culture and society.

Keywords: Murata Sayaka, Convenience Store Woman, Convenience store, Translation

キ―ワ―ド: 村田紗耶香, コンビニ人間, コンビニ, タイ, 翻訳