Talk:Interview Excerpt (2001)

From Gineipaedia, the Legend of Galactic Heroes wiki

This is great. Are there any other interviews that were given other than the 96' and 01'? And this is kind of off topic but are the novels translated into either English or German? I'd love to read the originals. My other question that is out of left field is whether or not these novels/series are actually popular in Germany or if it is just Germanic in nature due to the author? Thanks in advance for even contemplating my random questions. Strayor 01:17, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

I do not think they have been translated into either English or German. They have been translated entirely into Chinese however, and it is from these that I did a cross-translation of the Chronicle of the Battle of Dagon into English, though there are still some awkward phrasings. Use of German, pseudo-German, or Germanic themes is actually quite common in Japanese media. Due to historical reasons such as the Franco-Prussian War, Prussian/German became and still is in vogue to some degree, and does not have any negative associations that the Anglophone world might have (WWI and WWII Germany for example). Iracundus 09:07, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

I should move to Japan and learn the language then. They seem to be more proud of German culture than the Germans are. It's a shame there hasn't been more of an effort to bring these works to the west. To have this remain unknown seems criminal to me but this wiki is a large step in the right direction. Thanks for taking the time to address my curiosities. Strayor 13:34, 14 December 2013 (UTC)

The use of German in Japanese general media is largely similar to the use of English, in that they are used to add a foreign "flavor". Outside of academic circles, I doubt the understanding is more than superficial. As for why there hasn't been translation earlier, I think it is due to lack of market. The closest offhand equivalent I think of in the English world would be Game of Thrones. Many readers simply don't care to read long plot heavy stories with huge casts of characters. Such things are also more difficult to write and get published. Large epic stories (historical or otherwise) have always been more popular in Asia, though it is still a niche market. LOGH in particular poses more translation difficulties for the average fan translator since a lot of the names are from history or mythology (took me 16 years to get the Ba‘alat reference), and the language used is often denser, political, and/or with historical connotations, like that whole "prime minister vs. premier" topic. Iracundus 15:48, 14 December 2013 (UTC)