This is a fascinating post, and a fascinating discussion in the comments.
I think what I do in fic, and would prefer in other people’s fic and in subtitles, is to translate when I feel like it can be done without losing anything, and otherwise to romanize—Momokan to Coach Momo, Hei Pao Shi to the Black-Cloaked Envoy and so on, versus Chu-ge, Chiaki-sempai, Abe-kun, Xiao Bai (also known as Si-mei, but that’s harder, see below).
I prefer it like that, too. I always use Black-Cloaked Envoy in my fics, although I don’t mind when writers use Hei Pao Shi. But yes, it’s a much harder decision with for instance Hei Lao-ge as china-shop mentioned above. I’ve seen people write Hei Lao-ge, but I’ve also seen Old Brother Black, or even Old Bro Black. I don’t mind that, too, but if I had to write it I would still probably use Hei Lao-ge, despite preferring Black-Cloaked Envoy to Hei Pao Shi.
Funny thing is that I prefer it in an completely opposite way in The King Eternal Monarch fanfic. Lee Gon, the king in the drama is usually called “pyeha” by the people in the palace. It means “Your majesty”. Pretty straightforward translation, but still fanfic writer usually use “pyeha” in English language fics, and I prefer it that way. I don’t know why, really. It’s just sounds nice, I guess, and I love the way my favorite character keep saying that word in the drama. 😊
And I definitely prefer to leave honorifics untranslated. I don’t want to have Brother Chu or Sister Hong instead of Chu-ge and Hong-jie. IMO it’s easy to check if you’re watching Chinese or Korean drama for the first time and don’t understand what it means. And I love to learn new things like that and pondering subtleties of translating them to other languages. And comparing how different streaming services do that.
For instance I admit that when I watch Korean dramas on Netflix I prefer to watch them with Polish subtitles, because IMO they are better than English subtitles. I watched The King Eternal Monarch on Netflix first with Polish subtitles and then with re-watched it with English subtitles out of curiosity and I think the Polish ones flowed better. Even though they just omitted honorifics a lot of times. But the English subtitles on Netflix did that, too.
I watch most of my Korean dramas on VKI, and they leave honorifics as they are, and don’t translate them to English. I’m quite well versed in Korean honorifics already, and I still learn so much with every new drama I watch on VIKI, and I love it. 😊
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I think what I do in fic, and would prefer in other people’s fic and in subtitles, is to translate when I feel like it can be done without losing anything, and otherwise to romanize—Momokan to Coach Momo, Hei Pao Shi to the Black-Cloaked Envoy and so on, versus Chu-ge, Chiaki-sempai, Abe-kun, Xiao Bai (also known as Si-mei, but that’s harder, see below).
I prefer it like that, too. I always use Black-Cloaked Envoy in my fics, although I don’t mind when writers use Hei Pao Shi. But yes, it’s a much harder decision with for instance Hei Lao-ge as china-shop mentioned above. I’ve seen people write Hei Lao-ge, but I’ve also seen Old Brother Black, or even Old Bro Black. I don’t mind that, too, but if I had to write it I would still probably use Hei Lao-ge, despite preferring Black-Cloaked Envoy to Hei Pao Shi.
Funny thing is that I prefer it in an completely opposite way in The King Eternal Monarch fanfic. Lee Gon, the king in the drama is usually called “pyeha” by the people in the palace. It means “Your majesty”. Pretty straightforward translation, but still fanfic writer usually use “pyeha” in English language fics, and I prefer it that way. I don’t know why, really. It’s just sounds nice, I guess, and I love the way my favorite character keep saying that word in the drama. 😊
And I definitely prefer to leave honorifics untranslated. I don’t want to have Brother Chu or Sister Hong instead of Chu-ge and Hong-jie. IMO it’s easy to check if you’re watching Chinese or Korean drama for the first time and don’t understand what it means. And I love to learn new things like that and pondering subtleties of translating them to other languages. And comparing how different streaming services do that.
For instance I admit that when I watch Korean dramas on Netflix I prefer to watch them with Polish subtitles, because IMO they are better than English subtitles. I watched The King Eternal Monarch on Netflix first with Polish subtitles and then with re-watched it with English subtitles out of curiosity and I think the Polish ones flowed better. Even though they just omitted honorifics a lot of times. But the English subtitles on Netflix did that, too.
I watch most of my Korean dramas on VKI, and they leave honorifics as they are, and don’t translate them to English. I’m quite well versed in Korean honorifics already, and I still learn so much with every new drama I watch on VIKI, and I love it. 😊