An interesting question

[james_davis_nicoll]

Claire asked Ann Leckie:
Hello. I wondered if you were aware of the fact that in the french translation of Ancillary, Breq is male ?

Comments

[sean o'hara (from livejournal.com)]

There's a huge debate in manga translation about what to do with Japanese honorifics. The first name/last name thing doesn't work because that also conveys information. Translating them to Mr, Mrs. etc. works if all the characters are adults, but it comes across as weird in English if a teenager refers to a classmate as Miss Suzumiya. And leaving them out entirely erases nuance. The general consensus these days seems to be to leave honorifics untranslated as long as the story is set in Japan, but to translate or ignore them as seems appropriate when dealing with alternate and future settings or non-Japanese countries.