Two Moons Over Europe: Translating Haruki Murakami's 1Q84.

This article relates the experiences of several European translators of Haruki Murakami's novel, 1Q84, discussing difficulties they encountered in the text and different solutions they chose. These are in turn compared to the solutions chosen in the English translation, which was published later than many European versions. How, for example, should the translator handle such issues as the use of narrative present or fluctuations between the first and third person of the narrator? How to express in alphabetic languages the author's creative manipulation of the Japanese writing system? The article also discusses the issue of mistakes, including both those appearing in the original text and those made inadvertently by translators, as well as editorial cuts in the English translation and the reasons behind them. Finally it relates translators' personal experiences and reflections, which may have influenced the choices made in their versions of 1Q84. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]