A Study of the Translation of H.P Lovecraft’s Usage of Religious Metaphors in The Shadow over Innsmouth

Abstract: The Shadow Over Innsmouth is a book written by H.P Lovecraft and is one of the first books in the genre of cosmic horror. The book has been translated several times by different translators from English to Japanese. Finding equivalence between two languages is always a challenge when translating, especially in Lovecraft’s case, whose texts are full of archaic expressions and words which are unique to the time and culture in which the book was written. Acknowledging these facts, this study aims to compare translation of religious metaphors used in the book. Lovecraft has a very distinctive view on religion that can be seen by the usage of religious metaphors in his texts. By comparing translations made by three different translators, this study shows different strategies and approaches when translating something as culturally sensitive as religion. By analyzing the metaphors, it becomes clear that there are contextual and intertextual levels that also must be considered when translating Lovecraft’s works. Results of this study show how different strategies and approaches affected the text and what kind of difficulties the translators had.