Reaching You: A Translation of Kimi ni Todoke
Vu, Tam T.
2012
- This thesis is a translation of the light novel adaptation of the popular manga (graphic novel) series called 'Kimi ni Todoke'. Light novel or ranobe in Japanese is a type of novel that targets middle and high school students. Characteristics of a light novel are the short sentences, the short paragraphs comprised of a couple of lines, the simple and colloquial language, the lack of difficult ... read moreChinese characters (kanji) and the few illustrations. This style of writing is easier and faster for the target audience to read. Also, the books are usually no longer than 200 pages and are quite cheap, roughly $5. Although light novels became a huge hit in 2006, the light novels have been around before 1975 (this year is considered to be the start of the history of the light novels). Now, the light novels are so popular that there are even contests each year to find new writers. Light novels are also popular choices for adaptations into anime, manga, live-action movies. However, sometimes the reverse happens; manga or anime series are adapted into light novels. Despite the obvious popularity of light novels, many critics do not consider light novels to be works of literary merit. Perhaps they are not wrong about this, but the style of the light novel is extraordinarily similar to the shojo shosetsu, which is a style that some authors have based their style off of, such as Yoshimoto Banana. Yoshimoto_�_s style has been called new and minimalistic. She has also stated that she was influenced by shojo manga and shojo shosetsu since she had grown up reading them. Regardless of whether or not light novels can be called works of literature, this type of book may be able to help solve the problem with the younger generation being reluctant to read books. There have been some publishing companies that have licensed and translated some light novel series into English. This series however has yet to be translated, even though the manga series has been translated and is quite popular. This paper includes a translation of the entire first volume of the series and an introduction that explains and explores what a light novel is, the themes and issues presented within the story and its relation to Japanese society, and the difficulties of translation. The story is about a sweet, timid girl named, Sawako Kuronuma, who is feared by her classmates because of her resemblance to Sadako from "The Ring." The story follows Sawako on her journey to make friends and her evolution as a person.read less
- ID:
- rn301c013
- Component ID:
- tufts:UA005.014.014.00001
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