Translating Memories – the Fight Over Pikachu in Hong Kong

Abstract

ABSTRACTIt was an unusual scene – angry adults and young people making loud protests, accompanied and contrasted by cute yellow dolls, in defence of ‘Pikachu’ – or the ‘Pikachu’ they have long come to identify with. Nintendo’s decision to make the Mandarin transliteration of ‘Pikachu’, pikaqiu, the official Chinese name of its beloved Pokémon character has triggered this unexpected protest. On the surface it was a trivial fight over changing the translated name from the Cantonese-sounding beigaaciu to pikaqiu; to many locals, it was a battle to preserve memories and to safeguard a dwindling culture. This paper looks at the rise of China from a translation point of view, and examines how the predominantly Cantonese-speaking former British colony has struggled to come to terms with the increasing domination of the Mandarin language, whether in the realms of politics, entertainment world, everyday life, or even childhood memories. In the fight of asserting the ‘self’, translation has bcome a powerful tool to articulate the unique Cantonese identity of Hong Kong, whether in refuting the notion that the language is just a minor dialect compared to Mandarin, or in constructing and preserving the collective memory of a more glorious and recognizable past.