14) Reading the Differences in Russian Dialogue Between Serialization and Tankobon [Golden Kamuy Russian]

This time, I'm not looking at the differences between Japanese and Russian dialogue, but rather the differences in the Russian dialogue itself between the magazine serialization and the tankobon (collected volume). I'll be looking at the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Hasegawa starting from Chapter 177.

The Russian dialogue in the flashback arc received quite a few corrections in the tankobon (and furthermore, Russian dialogue that wasn't present during serialization was added in the tankobon).
As someone who prefers to analyze only what is presented in the finished product, focusing on pre-correction versions is technically unorthodox, but these corrections are so interesting that I've decided to pick them out anyway.

Alright! This is a series where we enjoy the Russian dialogue in Golden Kamuy.
This is written with the assumption that you have already finished reading the tankobon.
I will delve into the story through the differences between the Japanese dialogue provided by the author/supervisor and the Russian dialogue.
I'm writing this so that even those who have no connection to the Russian language can enjoy it.

【6 minutes to read】

There were parts I thought were 'probably a mistake' during serialization, and some were indeed corrected in the tankobon, while others remained the same. The ones that 'remained the same' were explained in the 7th installment...

If this wasn't a mistake by the author/supervisor, then this is the limit of Mr. Hasegawa's language skills.

Russian Language Explanation: Welcome Home

Correction Part One

There wasn't necessarily a grammatical error here.
Since there is no greeting in Russian equivalent to 'tadaima/okaeri' (I'm home/welcome home), one has to substitute it with a short conversation that would be likely at that moment. So, it's fine to translate 'welcome home' as 'I'll get dinner ready,' but the flow after this is...

...so, Fina was in the strange situation of trying to have dinner while keeping the clients (customers/visitors) waiting.

❗Point
Russian lacks a greeting equivalent to the Japanese 'tadaima/okaeri,' which causes some difficulty.

(※By the way, the situation where 'if you sit down, dinner will be served immediately' is because it is kept warm inside a pechka (a large Russian stove that serves as both a heater and an oven).
For example, the Russian national dish, a soup called 'shchi' (щи). If you put sauerkraut and other available ingredients and water into an earthenware pot/crock (горшок [gorshok]) and put it in the pechka, it will be stewed by dinnertime—a slow-cooker method.
Therefore, even if the time of return varies slightly, there is no worry about it overcooking or missing the perfect time to eat; you can just ladle it into a bowl and have hot soup immediately. The panel in the middle of page 10 of Chapter 168 shows a gorshok being cooked in a pechka.)

Russian Language Explanation: No Interest

Correction Part Two

She let it slip... this is a clear error in person.
However, even without knowing the content of this pre-correction dialogue, one has to wonder: did Fina herself, who mentions the presence or absence of interest, have any interest in her husband's home country of 'Japan'? And how did her husband, a spy, feel hearing these words? It's a very thought-provoking point.

❗Point
What does Fina think of her husband's home country, "Japan"?

Analysis: The Relationship Between the Two

When there is a culture that cannot be translated, you have no choice but to have them learn it as is.
It was neither a secret nor anything else that Hasegawa was Japanese.
He even took on the role of a Japanese language instructor when asked.
If that was the case, why didn't they just keep it simple and use "Tadaima" and "Okaeri"? It probably wouldn't have been a problem for Fina to learn at least that much.

However, the author and the supervisor did not do that.

As a result of the trial and error by the author and the supervisor, Hasegawawent to such lengths that the story accidentally stopped making sense,making no mention of Japanese culture and striving to blend into Russia perfectly.
And as for Fina, just as the supervisoraccidentally let slip,she had no interest in Japan.

If that is the nature of their relationship, then regarding Fina's feelings...

"Fina was attracted to Hasegawa's efforts to blend into Russia. She was happy that a foreigner was interested in the homeland and culture she loved."

...is something one can easily arrive at.

However, why does she show absolutely no interest in her husband's home country despite having strong opinions about "interest"? (Conversely, "she ignores her own situation while prying into others' interests (the state of their hearts)"... at least that is how it appeared to Hasegawa, meaning this was a dig, and he became convinced that his true identity had been discovered. It hit the nail on the head that he had no interest, didn't it, Hasegawa?). She shows kindness by watching over her husband's strange Russian without laughing. "It's just shaky because he's not a native speaker. There is
no malicein it."But her kindness is only about "accepting" and never "prying."
As if accepting is the greatest form of compromise...if so, let's dig deeper into Fina's feelings...

"Because she confronted the prejudice and fear of foreigners in her own heart and thought about how she wanted to be."

...is how it can be viewed.

In other words, she (and the Russians around her) originally feared the potential enemy nation, "Japan." They found the Japanese people eerie and felt threatened by them.
And in such cases, it usually stops at "somehow scary," and instead of trying to know the other party, they move toward "exclusion."
But Fina didn't stop there; she tried to face her own fear (and perhaps that was the practice of Christian "goodness").

If you cannotbelieve in good intentions and acceptsomeone who is desperately learning Russian and trying to blend into Russia, then the world will forever remain divided into enemies and allies. Isn't someone who is interested in your beloved homeland a friend just because of that? Isn't it prejudice to doubt and reject them just because they are a foreigner? Isn't it a sign of one's own weakness—that is how she thought.

The characters in this work all act for their own sake. Even if they say it is "for someone else," in the end, it is for themselves.

She, too, did not act "for Hasegawa's sake" or "to get Hasegawa's attention," but purely because she thought about how she wanted to be and grasped the "self she wanted to become."
It is important that she overcame the self that could not accept and accepted,and it is not that sheis being accepted into Japan.

As a result, from her perspective, it should have been "it was good to believe in good intentions and accept"...
And perhaps to the Japanese side, that surface of hers appeared as a "good-natured," "unsuspicious," "dim-witted" easy mark.

Rather than becoming weak, he likely felt that he had become relatively weak because his wife, whom he had underestimated as being ignorant and foolish, was actually a wise and strong person.
Wilk, who did not hesitate to put his own daughter in the line of fire, has not become "weak" in that sense. He has simply understood a "future" that he could not realize until now.

1. Russian dialogue is based on the collected volumes.

2. Obvious typos have been corrected.

3. This is not a Russian language course.

   • Explanations of grammar and usage are kept simple and limited to what is necessary to explain the dialogue.

   • I have provided kana readings for key terms, but these do not fully represent the actual pronunciation. Also, I have not provided them for everything to avoid redundancy.

4. For real-world source materials, I have consulted those written in Russian. Therefore, there may be discrepancies with the Japanese perspective.