Moomin/Mūmin/Moemin: apartheid-era dubbing and Japanese animation

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Moomin/Mūmin/Moemin: apartheid-eradubbing and Japanese animationCobus van StadenPublished online: 26 Feb 2014.

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ISSN 0256-0046/Online 1992-6049 pp. 1–1828 (1) 2014 © Critical Arts Projects & Unisa PressDOI: 10.1080/02560046.2014.883693

General research articles Moomin/Mūmin/Moemin: apartheid-era dubbing and Japanese animation

Cobus van Staden

AbstractUnder apartheid, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) dubbed large quantities ofJapanesechildren’sanimationintoAfrikaans,tofulfilbilingualbroadcastingrequirements.This article examines one such work, Moemin, which was dubbed into Afrikaans during the early1990s, justasapartheid’sgripon thenationalbroadcasterwasslipping.Thisseriespresents a unique case study of apartheid-era dubbing, because the dubbing team did not have access to full scripts and had to invent dialogue and plot as they went along. This means that the Afrikaans and Japanese versions differ significantly. This article uses a comparative close reading of the Afrikaans and Japanese versions to show how the process of dubbing should be seen as one of hybridisation between a transnational cultural commodity and a local specificity. In this case, the hybridisation provides glimpses into both the ideological flux that characterised South African life during the early 1990s, and into a transitional phase in the global circulation of Japanese pop culture. At the same time, the series becomes an eloquentartefactofarelativelyunexaminedaspectofnorth–southglobalisation–theflowofmedia from Asia to Africa.

Keywords:Asia–Africarelations,dubbing,globalisation,Japan,SouthAfrica,television

Cobus van Staden is postdoctoral research fellow at the SARChI Chair for African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy at the University of Johannesburg. [email protected]

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Introduction

Fromthelate1970stotheearly1990s,theSouthAfricanBroadcastingCorporation(SABC) dubbed a number of Japanese animated children’s series intoAfrikaans.ThelastofthesewasanadaptationoftheFinnishMoomintrollnovels,adaptedasTanoshii Mūmin Ikka (TheHappyMoominFamily).TheSABCacquiredtherightstothisseries,buttheteamtaskedwithdubbingitintoAfrikaansneverreceivedafullscript.FacedwithaJapanese-languagecartoon,askeletonoutlineandadeadline,theywereforcedtothinkuptheirowndialoguetocompletethejob.Intheprocess,theymanaged a rare feat – the hybridising of a transnationally standardised popculturefranchisewithlocalculture–are-narrationachievedfromthefaroppositeendoftheproductionprocess.Thearticleconsiderswhatthisrarecasestudycanteachusaboutthemechanisms

ofculturalglobalisation.Theargumentcanbemadethatinamodestwaythisseriessuppliedalens(perhaps‘peephole’isabetterword)throughwhichtolookatafewissuescentraltodiscussionsofculturalglobalisation.Theseincludetheconstructionofthestateviamediawithinthecontextofglobalisation,theroleofnon-Western(especially Asian) media production nodes as drivers of globalisation, and thecomplexandunevenrelationshipbetweentheownersof intellectualpropertyandtheworkerswhoproducethephysicalmanifestationsofthatintellectualproperty.Inbroadterms,thisarticlearguesthattheproductionhistoryofMoeminoffersa

glimpseintohowtheapartheidstate’smechanismsofproducinghegemonicmeaningstarted tobreakdownin theearly90s.Here, the term‘hegemonic’ isused in theGramsciansense,bywayofRaymondWilliams(1973).Itisnotonlyadominantviewofrealitythatsafeguardsandissafeguardedbyasetofeconomicandpoliticalrelations,butisspecificallyonethathastobeendlesslyreaffirmedandreiterated.Theauthor’sthoughtsaboutthismomentinthehistoryoftheSABCarebasedonWilliams’(ibid:8)insightthat‘[w]ehavetoemphasizethathegemonyisnotsingular,indeedthatitsowninternalstructuresarehighlycomplex,andhavecontinuallytoberenewed,recreatedanddefended’.Ifoneseesapartheidbroadcastingassuchasystemofcontinuousrecreationof

hegemony,onehastolooknotonlyathowtheoriginalproductionofprogrammecontentwasemployedintheconstructionoftheapartheidstate,butalsoathowforeigncontentwas repurposed tofit intoand servecertainnationaldiscourses.WhereasthedevelopmentofSouthAfricanfilmandbroadcastproductioncanbedescribed,echoingBenedictAnderson(2006),asthevisualisationofanimaginedcommunityvia nationalist state-owned media, the prominent role of foreign content in theSABC’sbroadcastssincethelaunchoftelevisionbroadcastsin1975presentsmoreofatheoreticalchallenge.English–Afrikaansbilingualismcreatedahybridsystematoncenationalistandopento(English-language)globallycirculatedcurrentsofpop

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Moomin/Mūmin/Moemin: apartheid-era dubbing and Japanese animation

culture,particularlyfromtheUnitedStates.Inaddition,thedependenceondubbinginorder tosupplementAfrikaanscontentmeant that thishybriditywasreplicatedwithin individualworksof pop culture.Throughdubbing, local particularitywasinsertedintogloballycirculatedpopcultureobjects.Thereforeit ismoreaccuratetodiscussapartheid-eradubbingasacomplexsystemwhereimportedpopculturecontainedgapswhichallowedittobefusedwiththekindofnationalistconstructionofthestate,asdescribedbyAnderson.Inotherwords,thebroadanalyticalfoundationthatsupportsthedescriptionofthisparticularcase,isFoucault’sargumentforaviewof discourse as closely linked to power relations, yet also characterised by gaps,irruptionsanddiscontinuity.ShiftsinpowerrelationswouldthereforealsoaffectthediscursivesystemwithinwhichtheSABCproducedprogramming.One has to acknowledge, however, that narration complicates the reading of

dubbing as an ideological project, because the need to replicate the narrative ofthe original in the dub tends to interrupt and hide its own ideological irruptions.Whilethedubbedtransnationaltelevisionprogrammeischaracterisedhereashavingexperiencedanirruptionofnationalideologyvialanguage,thisideologyisfrequentlyhiddenbythereplicationoftheoriginalstory.Anattemptisthereforemadehere,tofollowthefamousexampleofEveKosofskySedgwick(1990)inreadingagainstthegrainofthedominantnarrativeinordertoarticulateideologicalsubtextswithinit.InthisparticularinstanceitentailsusingtheJapaneseandtheAfrikaansversionsofthesameepisodesastoolstopryeachotheropen,inordertogainsomeinsightintohowtheanimationofthiserareflectedchangesinbothSouthAfrica’sandJapan’spositionwithinglobalisation.

The flow of animation from Japan to South Africa during the Cold War

Producingchildren’sprogrammingwasa crucial stage in the Japaneseanimationindustry’sslowworldwideexpansion.OneofthefirstJapaneseindustriestoemergeafterthedevastationoftheSecondWorldWar,producedtoysfortheexportmarket.AtthesametimethedomesticJapanesetelevisionindustryslowlyevolveddifferentways tomarket animatedcharacters to children,moving from the sellingof cardgamesandfilmframes in the1950s, tobranded toysandsweets in the1960s, toplasticmodelsinthe1970sandhandheldgamingdevicesinthe1990s.Intheprocessitdevelopedasymbioticrelationshipofsponsorship,brandingandmerchandisingthat was, to a certain extent, influenced by Disney, but which developed into apowerful economic force in Japan and EastAsia (Allison 2006; Sakai 2008; Su1999).Throughoutthe1960sand70s,individualJapanesechildren’sserieswerealsomarketedatAmericanandEuropeanfilmmarkets,fromwheretheyweredistributedtomanydifferentcountries,including,eventually,SouthAfrica(Pellitteri2011;Van

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Staden2010).WhiletheJapaneseanimeaudienceexpandedduringthe1970swithawidervarietyofgenresappearinginanimatedform,includingsciencefictionandotheranimationforadultaudiences,internationalconsumptionofanimeremainedlargelyinchildren’smarkets(Yamaguchi2004).Thetemplateforthisachievementwassetbythesuccessofa1974animatedadaptationof theJohannaSpyrinovelHeidi.ThissuccessledtoasuccessionofadaptationsofEuropeanchildren’snovelsbythestudioZuiyoEizō,underthenameSekai Meisaku Gekijo(WorldMasterpieceTheatre).TheseadaptationsnotonlyprovedpopularwithinJapan,butalsopavedthewayfortheexportofJapaneseanimationtowidermarkets,includingEurope,theMiddleEastandSouthAfrica(Litten2007).ThiseraofJapaneseanimationwasshapedbyanattitudewithintheanimationindustrythatinternationalaudienceshadno interest inJapanesecontent.ThefocusonclassicWesternchildren’s literaturewasthereforeapragmaticwaytotargetinternationalmarkets,whilealsocapitalisingonastrongfascinationwithEuropeamongJapaneseaudiences(Litten2007;VanStaden2011).TheresultwasprogrammingthatIwabuchiKoichi(2002)argueswasscrubbedofthe‘odorofJapaneseness’.Inotherwords,morethanothergenresanderasofanime,theanimeadaptationsofWesternchildren’sclassicsproducedduringtheColdWarwerepurposefullypreparedfordubbing.TheSABCimportedHeidi,dubbeditintoAfrikaans,anditbecameamassivehit.

AsVanStaden(2011)argues,thefactthatHeididepictedEurope,butalsolentitselftoeasydubbing,enabled it tobehybridisedwith localpolitico-culturalconcerns,particularly theapartheidgovernment’sobsessionwithEuropean roots.However,thiswasmostlyachievedviaextra-narrativedevicessuchas themetunes,aswellasbytheimplicitlinkingofAfrikaanswithdepictionsoftheEuropeanlandscape,notthroughthecreationofnewplotsordialogueasintheMoemincase.AfterthesuccessofHeidi,theSABCimportedseveralanimeadaptationsofotherEuropeanchildren’snovelsbothproducedbyZuiyoEizōanditscompetitors.TheseincludedMarco,Pinocchio,Maya the Beeand,lastly,Moemin.ThedubbingofforeignmediaintoAfrikaansremainsarelativelyunder-explored

aspectofapartheidbroadcasting.Fromthebeginningoftelevisionbroadcastsin1975tothedemocratisationoftheearly1990s,acottageindustrydeveloped,dedicatedtodubbingforeigncontentintoAfrikaansfortheSABC.TheprogrammeswereusuallyacquiredattelevisionmarketsinWesternEuropeandtheacquisitionwasusuallynotnegotiatedwiththeoriginalJapanesestudio,butwiththeholderoftheprogramme’sforeigndistributionrights.Forthisreason,allthechildren’sanimedubbedbytheseteams, except for Tanoshii Mūmin Ikka, came with German, English or Frenchsoundtracksandscripts.Thedubbingwasusuallyoutsourcedtosmall teamswhotranslatedthescriptsintoAfrikaans, tailoringthelinestosuit theonscreenmouthmovements.These teams then recordednewvoice tracks using specialisedvoiceactors(thetranslatorswerefrequentlyalsoactors)andmixedthesevoicetrackswith

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theoriginalbackgroundsoundandmusic.Theprocessincludedthecommissioningandrecordingofnewthemetunes(K.Geldenhuys2009;R.Geldenhuys2009;Luyt2009;Spamer2012).

Moeminwasa transitionalworkbothinSouthAfricaandJapan.In theformercase,itwasoneofthelastchildren’sseriestobedubbedintoAfrikaansbeforetheimplementationoftheSABC’sneweditoriallanguagepolicyin1995.JakoOlivier(2011)arguesthatthe1990ssawtheSABCtryingtobalanceitsnewconstitutionalimperative to broadcast in South Africa’s 11 official languages with budgetaryconstraints.HequotestheSABC’s1995editorialpolicy:

Anallocationoffundsfordubbingwillbeonanequitablebasistakingintoconsiderationthedemographicfactor.Therewillalsobeuseofsub-titling[sic]tofacilitatesharingofprograms,languagelearningandcomprehensionbythehearing-impaired.Subtitling,whichismuchcheaper,shouldplayasignificantroleinlocalproductions,particularlynewsandactualityprograms,tofacilitateaccesstoandparticipationinSouthAfricanaffairsprogrammesbythepublicatlarge.Africa,European,North&SouthAmerican,Asianandotherlanguageprogramswilleitherbedubbedorsubtitledequitable[sic],according to the language needs of the target group. Children’s programmes willcontinuetobedubbedand/orsubtitledintheelevenofficiallanguagesequitable,both[sic]intheinterestsofcommunication,developmentofhomelanguagesandlanguagelearning.(Olivier2011:227,parenthesesintheoriginal)

WhenthepresentauthorcontactedtheSABCforacopyofthis1995editorialpolicyinAugust 2013, nobodyworking in its official archive could locate a copy.Theauthorwasrepeatedlydirectedtoitscurrentlanguagepolicy,writtenin2004,whichdoesnotmentiondubbingat all: ‘TheSABCcreatively combinesunilingual andmultilingual programmes, and uses broadcasting technologies such as subtitling,to reach its languagegoals’ (SABC2004:31). It is thereforedifficult topinpointtheexactmomentwhendubbingwascompletely replacedbysubtitling,althoughitisclearthatithappenedbetween1994and2004.IanBarnard(2006)notesthatsubtitlingallowed theSABC to followamoredynamicmultilingual approachofjumpingbetweendifferentlanguageswithinoneprogramme.Itcanalsobearguedthattheapartheid-eradubbingsectorwasweakenedbytheneedtoprovidecontentinallSouthAfrica’slanguages,becauseithadevolvedtoservethedemandforAfrikaanscontentandlackedthepersonneltoprovidesuchservicesforotherlanguages.But,morefundamentally,dubbingisalsoconsistentlymoreexpensiveandwasthereforeaffectedbytheSABC’sfinancialwoes.Inbroaderpoliticalterms,theshiftseemstoechotheargumentputforthbyMartineDanan(1991)inaEuropeancontext,thatthemovementfromdubbingtosubtitlingisaccompaniedbyashiftfromaclosednationalistsystemtoaweakersystemwhichismoreopentointernationalinfluence.Litten(2007)pointsoutthatfromthelate1980sthepopularityoftheseadaptations

ofEuropeanchildren’sbooksbegantowaneinJapan.Itcanbearguedthatthiswas

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notbecauseaudiences’appetiteforthingsEuropeandeclinedinJapan,butbecauseitbecameeasiertomarketJapaneseanimationassuchintheinternationalmarket.TheoriginalWorldMasterpieceTheatreseriescontainednoadaptationsofJapaneseorAsian sourcematerial (Litten 2007). However, the international popularity ofPokémon and the films of Studio Ghibli, which (to a certain extent) made theirJapaneseoriginmoreclear,changedtheperceptionthatexplicitlyJapanesecontentwouldnotappealtoaglobalaudience.TheeffacementofJapaneseorigins,thus,ofwhichthechoicetoadaptfamousWesternchildren’snovelswasanotinsignificantpart,becamelessnecessary.From both the South African and Japanese industry perspectives, Moemin

representsanartefactleftbehindbyindustrytransition.Itsvalueasanartefactoftransitionisnot,however,onlyduetoitshistoricalcontext,butalsothenatureofitsproduction,whichisexaminedbelow.

Production background

In1990,TokyoTerebilaunchedanewanimeseriescalledTanoshii Mūmin Ikka(TheHappyMoominFamily)1basedonToveJansson’sMoomintroll books.Alreadyatthisstagetheprojectwasanexampleoftransnationalproductionchains,withFinnishchildren’snovelsoriginallywritteninSwedishbeingadaptedbyTelescreenJapanandTeleimage Japan,TelecableBenelux,TVE in Spain andMarina Productionsin France. In 1992, it debuted, dubbed intoAfrikaans, asMoemin.2 In this case,QuantumProductions,thedubbinghouse,didnotreceivethecustomaryfullscriptinGerman,FrenchorEnglishbutonlytheJapaneseoriginal,withasimpleskeletonoutlineforeachepisode.WhileseveralofthescriptwriterswerefluentinGermanandFrench,noneofthemknewanyJapanese.TheyalsodidnothavethetimetoconsulttheoriginalMoomintrollnovels.Theproduction teamthereforeused theskeletonoutlinestheyreceivedtowritenewdialogueandevensubplotstofittheanimation.Inaddition,theyrenamedthecharactersandinventedtheirmotivations,personalitiesandmodesofexpressionfromscratch(K.Geldenhuys2009;R.Geldenhuys2009;Luyt2009). WhiletheAfrikaansversionofTanoshii Mūmin Ikkadifferedmuchmorefrom

theJapaneseversionthanusual,itwouldbeamistaketoassumethattheAfrikaansdubbingteaminventedstorieswholesale.Their inventionwasconstrainedontwofronts:inthefirstinstance,theepisodeoutlinesprovidedthemwiththebasicbeatsofeachepisodeandtheyknewhowthesehadtofitintothewiderseriesarc.Theythereforeknewwheretheepisodebegan,whereithadtoend,andwhichmainpointsithadtoincludealongtheway.InthiswaytherelationshipbetweentheJapaneseandAfrikaansversionsisanalogoustothatbetweenacurtainrodandacurtain.Thecurtainishookedtotherodeveryfewcentimetres,butin-betweenitsownweight

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pulls it towards theground.TheAfrikaansversion similarlypulls away from theJapaneseversionthefurthestinmomentsbetweenanchoringplotpoints.In the second instance, the Afrikaans scriptwriters were constrained by the

animation. Itwas obviously impossible for them to change the animation to suittheirscripts,buttheywerealsocontractuallybarredfromcuttingorrepeatingshots.Theirloyaltytotheanimationwastwofold:inthefirstplace,lineshadtofitmouthmovements.Thiswasarelativelyminorconstraint,notonlybecausetheJapaneseuse of limited animation tended towardsminimal lip-synching, but also becausethe Moomins’ big noses sometimes obscure their mouths. That said, the mouthmovementswereanimatedtoaJapanesescript,whichmeanstheyfollowJapaneseconversationalconventions,includingtheuseofshortexhalationslikeun(yes),uun (no),n?(what?),he(what?!)andhē(really?)intheplaceoffullwordsorsentences.TheAfrikaansscriptwritershadtodevelopwaystofittheserhythmsintoAfrikaanssentencestructures.Inthesecondplace,thedialoguewasobviouslysubjecttothespecificvisualinformationcontainedintheanimation.Infact,incertainwaystheAfrikaansteamwasledevenmorebythevisualcommunicationoftheanimationthantheJapaneseversion.TheJapaneseversionfrequentlyintroducesacertainlevelofcontrastbetweenthevisualcommunicationandthedialogue,revealingcharacters’personalitytraitsthroughgivingthemdialogueatoddswiththeirdesign.ThefactthattheAfrikaansdubbingteamprimarilybasedtheirversionontheanimationitself,ratherthanonJansson’snovels,resultedinpersonalitytraitsderivedfromhowthecharacterslook,ratherthanhowtheyareintheJapaneseversion.AcentralexampleisthecharacterofLittleMy(Mī-chaninJapanese,Mei-meiinAfrikaans)whoendsupconsistentlymorepepperyandcombativeinAfrikaansthaninJapanese,duetothesharpnessofherfeatures.Inaddition,thecharacterofToo-Tickey(Tjoek-TjoekinAfrikaans)isfemaleintheoriginalnovelsaswellasintheJapaneseversion,butmaleintheAfrikaansversion,duetohershorthair.That said, theAfrikaans version tends to be most similar to the Japanese in

momentsofhighly specific animation.However, inmomentswhere thedialogueis less dominated by animation, that is, inmomentswhen characters are simplyexchanging dialogue, the differences between the versions are significant. ThespecificityoftheAfrikaansversionisparticularlyapparentinmomentsoflowdramaconnectingkeymomentsofaction.Thedifferencesbetweentheversionsaremostmarkedatthemarginsofnarrativeaction.Inotherwords,whenonecomparestheJapanese andAfrikaans versions, it is evident that the gap between the versionswidensandnarrows–frequentlywithinthesameepisodeoreventhesamescene.Thefollowingthreesectionsexaminethisgapfromthenarrowesttothewidest.

Thefirstexaminessmalldifferences in toneandmeaningbetween theversions–differenceswhichcanbearguedtosubtlyrevealhowdubbinghybridisestransnationalcultural products with local culture. The second section examines the impact of

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thishybridisationontheactofnarration,throughfocusingoninstanceswheretheconstructionofcharacterandplotdifferwidelybetweentheJapaneseandAfrikaansversions.Thethirdsectionattemptstoprovidecluestowhatthewiderideologicalimpactofthishybridisationis,bylookingattheinsertionofideologicallyfreightedcultural,racialandgenderreferencesintheAfrikaansversion,insertionsthatreflectitsstatusasanartefactofthesocialandpoliticalchangethatmarkedSouthAfricansocietyduringtheearly1990s.ThisanalysisdoesnotconsidertheJapaneseversionmore‘original’thantheAfrikaansversion,notonlybecauseimposinganorth/southhierarchyisextremelyproblematicinthestudyoftransnationalculturalconsumption,butalsobecausetheJapaneseversionisitselfanadaptationoftheJanssonnovels.Thisarticlethereforerepresentsthetrackingofapatternoftransnationalhybridisation,rather than judging the validity of its individual iterations.Through tracking thewideningandnarrowingof thegapbetween theversions, theaimis toprovideaglimpseofhowthehybridisationbetweentransnationalculturalconsumptionandlocalmeaninghappenedindifferentwaysinJapanandSouthAfrica.Beforedelvingintoanalysis,hereisaverybriefoutlineoftheworlddepictedin

thisseries.TheMoomins(Moominpappa,MoominmammaandtheirsonMoomin)areasomewhatbohemianfamilylivingintheidyllicallyruralMoominvalley,whichbordersbothmountainsandthesea.Theydedicatethemselvestogamesandcreativepursuits.Moominvalleyishometovariousothercharacters.Somearecharacterisedas townspeopleandotherspossessmysticalpowersand liveoutsideoforganisedsociety.Visually, thesecharactersallhavedifferentfeatures, rangingfromclearlyhumantoallmannerofanimalandmagicalbeings.

Observing hybridisation

Asmentionedabove, thegapbetween theAfrikaansandJapaneseversions is thenarrowestinthemomentswhenthestoryistoldvisuallythroughanimation,ratherthanthroughdialogue.Thisbecomesclearinasceneinthefirstepisodeoftheseries,3 wherethefamilyfindsahatandbringsithome.Itturnsouttobeawizard’smagichat,whichhasthepowertotemporarilytransformobjectsintootherobjects.Duringagameofhideandseek,Moominhidesinsidethelargehat.Whenheemerges,hisparentsandfriendsdonot recognisehimandheatfirst thinks theyareplayingatrickonhim.He thendiscovers thathehasbeen transformed intoahairy,purplemonster.Hefallscryingintohismother’sarms,andherloveneutralisesthemagic,turninghimbackintohisoriginalform.Inthisscene,theanimationprovidesclearsignposts leading the dialogue. For example,Moomin touches his face to realisethathisheadhaschangedshape,recoilsfromhisreflectioninthemirrorandcriesinhismother’sarms.TheseareclearvisualcuesdirectingtheAfrikaansdialogue.However,smalldifferencesbetweentheversionsdoexist,andenumeratingthemwill

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helpinunderstandinghowdubbingfunctionsasakindofnarrativehybridisation,usingsubtlydifferentnarrativemechanismstofittheanimation.First,dubbingcanalterthebackandforthflowofconversationbyinsertinglines

fromaspeakeroff-screen.Inthisscene,Moomin(stillunawareofhistransformation)boaststhatnobodycouldfindhimbecausehehadsuchagoodhidingplace.IntheJapaneseversion,thisstatementissimplymetwithsilence.IntheAfrikaansversion,hisfriendSniffisheardoff-screen,saying:‘Whowouldwanttolookforyou?’ThissetsthesceneforamorehostilereactionintheAfrikaansthantheJapaneseversion.Inthesecondplace,evenwhentheanimationprovidesaveryspecificcuedirectingthedialogue,linguisticdifferencecanleadtosubtledifferencesinplot.Forexample,at the beginningwhenMoomin still thinks everyone is simply pretending not toknowhim,hegivesadeepbow,asiftointroducehimself.IntheJapaneseversion,hisdialogue is simplya formalgreeting–common todaily interaction in Japan.AfrikaansgenerallylackssuchformalisedphrasesandtheAfrikaansversionhastoexplainthebowaspartofMoominplay-actingatbeing‘theprinceofMoominvalley’.Theselinguisticdifferencescausesubtledivergencesincommunication.Japanese

has a wider range of second person pronouns thanAfrikaans. UnlikeAfrikaans,everyday spoken Japanese frequently tends to favour the use of given names orcontextualcuesovertheuseof‘you’.Thereareseveralversionsoftheword‘you’inJapanese,andnonearecompletelyneutral–theirusagefrequentlychangesduetogenderandtheyoftenimplyeitheradifferenceinstatusbetweenaddressorandaddressee, or specific levels of formality in the interaction. In certain cases thepointeduseof‘you’canbeexperiencedasaformofattack.Inthiscase,thegulfbetweenMoominandtheothercharactersissubtlywidenedthroughtheuseoftwoversionsof‘you’:kimi and anata. Kimiisslightlymoreaggressiveandmasculine,whereasinthiscaseanatacarriestheimplicationofpoliteandsympatheticdistance.It isworthnoting thatkimi isusedbymalecharacters (Sniff andMoominpappa)whileanataisusedbythemorepolitebutnolessdistantMoominmammaandSnorkMaiden. Inaddition,LittleMycontractsanata into anta, ausage thatcarries theimplicationof tough female impatience. In thisway, Japaneseprovides charactercuessimplythroughpronounuse–amechanismnotopentotheAfrikaanswriters.In theAfrikaans version, this gulf is implied by slightly more pointedly hostiledialogue, includingoneofhis friends tellingMoomin: ‘Youare toougly tobeaprince’–alinethatdoesnotappearintheJapaneseversion.It is not the primary intention here to infer any comprehensive point about

JapaneseorAfrikaansculture.Instead,theaimistoshowthatwhentransnationalculturalpropertiesarehybridisedwithlocalmeaningthroughdubbing,itleadstoasubtlemultiplicationofnarrativeforms.Inotherwords,becausedubbingisnotafreeactofcreationbuttheinsertionofnewmodesofcommunicationviagapsintoanalreadyexistingnarrativestructure,eachactofnarrationthroughdubbinghasto

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followroughlythesamenarrativepathfrombeginningtoend.However,theactofdubbingalsosubtlychanges thenarrative,meaningthat ineachversion thesamedestination is reached ina slightlydifferentway,makingslightlydifferentpointsenroute.However,as isshownbelow,thesedonotnecessarilyreveal ideology–sometimestheyarejustdifferent.

Differences in the construction of character and plot

Asmentionedabove,someofthedifferencesbetweentheAfrikaansandJapaneseversions arise from differences inherent to the languages themselves. Both theAfrikaans and Japanese writers had linguistic tools which were unavailable totheir counterparts. For example, Japanese contains gender-specific suffixes like-wa thatenabletheshorthandcommunicationofconventionalgenderroles,whileAfrikaanscontainsdiminutiveformsthatcarryarangeofemotionalimplications,from tenderness to ridicule. Japanese also employs separate registers to signalformalityandhumblepoliteness,whichtheAfrikaansversiontendedtoreplacewithdifferencesinaccentandpronunciation(expandeduponlater).ThedivergencesbetweentheAfrikaansandJapaneseversionscannot,however,

simplybeascribed to linguisticdifference.Rather, theanimation,whiledesignedaroundaJapanesescript,shouldbeseenasaspaceenablingtheslippageofnarrativeand charactermeaning atmoments between key plot points. It appears that thisabilityof anime toaccommodatealternativemeanings facilitated its internationalcirculation and should be seen in contrast to Hollywood distribution, which hasdemanded amore standardised product, particularly since eliminating alternativeendingsfordifferentmarketsinthe1920s(Hansen1999).ThissectioncitesafewnotableplotandcharacterdifferencesbetweentheAfrikaansandJapaneseversions,asexamplesofhowfilmandtelevision,despitebeingcarefullyconstructednarrativestructures,alsocontaingapsthatenablethemtohybridisewithlocalcontenttoformnewversionsofthemselves.Inthefirstcase(takenfromepisode21),MoominisspeakingtohisfriendSnufkin

(Sunafukin in Japanese,Boeboe inAfrikaans, the scriptwriter’s nickname for hisinfantson)(K.Geldenhuys2009).SnufkinalwaysleavesMoominvalleyduringthewintertotravelalonetothesouth.WhilethemainthrustoftheconversationisroughlythesameinJapaneseandAfrikaans,comparingthetwoversionsrevealsdifferencesincharacterconstruction.Inthefirstplace,theJapaneseversionusessignificantlymoresilence,revealingamoodier,darkerSnufkinthanintheAfrikaansversion.Inthesecondplace,thedialoguecreatescompletelydifferentcharactermotivationsinthetwoversions.InresponsetoMoominsighing:‘Oh,itmustbewonderfultotravel…’,theJapaneseSnufkinanswers:‘Sometimesit’sverytoughtoo.Butit’sthebestwaytobebyyourself.’TheAfrikaansSnufkinexplains:‘Yes,it’sfuntotravel.You

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gettobeonyourownandyoumeetmanynewpeopletoo.’Hereoneseeshowthesameanimationcanaccommodatequitedivergentcharacterisation.These relativelysubtledifferencesbecomeclearerwhenoneexaminesplot. In

episode 9,Moomin befriendsNinni, a girlwho became invisible because of heraunt’sbullying. Inone scene theyencounter the rascalStinky. In this sceneonlyNinni’sshoesarevisible.StinkyimmediatelybecomesfixatedonNinni.Hetriestointimidateherintodisappearingcompletely,shoutingatherandlatertrappingherinacave.IntheJapaneseversion,Stinkyisatricksteroraspiritofchaos,withgenerallynodeepermotivethanmalice.However,theAfrikaansStinkysaysthatacompletelyinvisibleNinniwouldbeable torobbanksforhim,andhetries toscareher intoinvisibilityinordertocommittheperfectcrime.Inthisway,theAfrikaansversionaddsanentiresubplotwhichismissingfromtheJapaneseversion.Inaddition, itcompletelyreconceivesthecharacterofStinkyandconstructs thenarrativeworlddifferently – adding banks and crimewhichwe never encounter in the Japaneseversion.Inaway,theAfrikaansversionmightbereadasarefusaloftheambiguityof the Japanese version.Why is the Japanese Stinkymean toNinni?He just is.InthesamewayastheAfrikaanswritersdirectlyinferredcharactertraitsfromthecharacterdesignandintheprocessalteredthecharacterisationasawhole,theirneedtoprovidecharactermotivation,refusedintheJapaneseversion,altersthenarrativeprojectasawhole.Yet,howisonetoapproachthesedifferences?Tolocatereasonsfor them in some conceptionof national character seemshighly dubious.At thisjunctureitseemsbesttopointoutthatthefactthatthesameanimationartefactcouldcontainthesedifferentnarrativesallowsusaglimpseintohowColdWar-eraanimemanagedtocirculatetodifferentmarketswithoutthestrongdistributionsystemthatpropelledHollywoodfilm.Itisthiscapacityforhybridisationthatalsoallowsthedubbedversionstobecomeartefactsofthediscursivemomentoftheirproduction.Thefollowingsectionattemptstoidentifyexamplesofthisdiscourse.

Ideological irruptions

When one examines how dubbing left markers specific to South Africa in theMoominnarrative,twofactorsneedtobekeptinmind:thedubbingteam’sreactiontotheexternalpoliticalcontext,andtheAfrikaansdialogue’sownsubordinationtotheanimationandstorystructure.Thesetwoissueswillbebrieflyconsideredbeforespecificexamplesareprovided.In1992and1993,SouthAfricawas inastateoffundamentalpoliticalchange

andupheaval,withviolenceoccasionally reaching levelsakin toacivilwar.Thesituation was extremely complex, with many different perpetrators of violence,includingright-wingAfrikanerparamilitarygroups.Whenthedubbingteamplannedtheproject, theydebatedwhether to includeawidervarietyof(classandraciallycoded)Afrikaansaccents,ortomaintainwhattheysawas‘neutral’(i.e.whiteand

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middle-class)accentsthroughout.Thelatterhadbeentheirmodusoperandiupuntilthatmoment,andtheydecidedagainstchangingitforthisproject.RonelGeldenhuys(2009),whowasthedubbingdirectorfortheproject,reportedthattheywereafraidthatmakingtheseriesmorediversewouldmakeitthetargetofaright-wingbacklash.In addition, in an interview with Peter Spamer (2012), an SABC content buyerresponsibleforacquiringtherightstoTanoshii Mūmin Ikka,herevealedthatatthetimetheSABCwasexperiencingsizableupheavals,withthedemocraticallyelectedgovernmentonlycompletelytakingoverfromapartheidauthoritiesin1994.ForthatreasonmanyoftheadministrativeprocessesattheSABChadfallenintodisarray.Thegeneralmoodinthecorporationwasoneofuncertainty,andfirmsdependentonoutsourcedcontractstendedtohesitatebeforechangingtheirapproach.Thedecisiontoavoidanexplicitlyraciallyintegratedvoicecastmightalsohavereflectedfearsof a backlash from apartheid-era powerswithin the SABC, the only broadcastertocommissionAfrikaansdubbing.Adecisionwas thereforemade toavoiddirectreferencestorace,andnottouseactorswithAfricanorcolouredaccents.Ofcourse,thisdecisionwashighlyideological,leadingtotheerasureofnon-white,non-middle-classpresencesfromtheseriesatahistoricalmomentwhensuchpresenceswouldhavespokenmosteloquently.Second, the search for a coherent ideological scheme in theAfrikaansversion

is continually frustrated by the fact that theAfrikaans dub is subordinate to theanimation.Acomprehensiveideologyneveremerges,becausetheAfrikaansversioncanonlypullawayfromtheanimationtoacertainextent,beforebeinganchoredtoitagain.Itisforthatreasonthattheauthor’sanalyticalmethodologywasinfluencedbySedgwick’squeerreadingagainstthegrain(albeitwithoutitsfocusonsexuality).Rather than revealing a comprehensive underlying ideological substructure, thisanalysisisthereforebasedonindividualmomentswhenideologyescapedtheteam’searnest containment attempts. In Foucauldian terms, this reading is therefore thesearchforideologicalirruptions.Onesuch irruptionoccurs inepisode12,whenabandofpirates runsaground

inMoominvalleyand they takeMoomin’sgirlfriend, theSnorkMaiden,hostage.Thehaplesslocalpoliceofficertriestonegotiateherreleasebytryingtoconvincethepiratestotakeupnewcareers.IntheJapaneseversion,heattemptstopersuadethemtoswitchfrombeingmaritimepirates(kaizoku) tobeingbrigands(sanzoku,literally, ‘mountainpirates’),assuring them thatMoominvalley’s lovelymountainscenerywillmakethecareerchangeapleasure.In theAfrikaansversion,he tellsthemtheyshouldacquirecattleandtakeupfarming,informingthemthat‘therearestillemptyplotsatthefootofthebigmountain’.HereweseeanotherinstanceoftheAfrikaansversionrewritingtheunseenlandscapeofMoominvalley,addingawholeagricultural sector to the narrative universe. In addition, the Japanese version’ssimpleironyofapoliceofficerencouragingapiratetotakeupterrestrialbanditryis

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replacedbyacentralapartheidmyth–thatofanemptyterritorywherenewarrivalscansimplytakeplotsoflandandstartfarming,withnoresistancefromindigenouspeoples(Norval1996;VanderWesthuizen2007).Because direct references to racial politics were so stringently policed in the

dubbingprocess,themomentswhentheydoshowupareinvariablyhighlycoded.Thisistruefortheaboveexample,whichonemightargueisakindofideologicalFreudian slip, aswell as the following example,which seems to representmorepointedcommentary.Inepisode13,theMoominsholdawelcomepartyforanewly-settled family inMoominvalley.Thenew family is headedbyMrs. Fillyonk– abrittle,snobbishhousewifecontinuallyappalledattheMoominfamily’sbohemianways.Her presence provides opportunities for political point-scoring in both theSouthAfricanandJapaneseversions.WhensheisfirstintroducedtoMoominandhis family, she is takenabackby thephysicalvarietyofMoomin’s friends.TheyincludeMoominandtheSnorkMaiden,wholookvaguelylikehipposstandingontheirhindlegs,LittleMywhoishumanoidbutverysmall,andSniffwholookslikeakangaroo.InbothversionsMoominmammaasks:‘CanIintroduceyoutothekids?’TheJapaneseFillyonkexclaims:‘Fourofthem?’IntheAfrikaansversion,heranswer‘Theydonotreallylookalike’isgivenaracisttone,implyingdisapprovalofraciallymixed families. Simultaneously, this places the bohemian Moomins in a liberalSouthAfricancontextofinterracialadoptionandmulticulturalfamilystructuresthatbecamemuchmorecommonaftertheendofapartheid.Thisdifferentiationbetweenthe families isstrengthenedby thevoiceacting.Whereas in theJapaneseversionMrs.Fillyonkspeakskeigo,theregisterusedinformalinteractions,inAfrikaansshespeaksanoverlyaffected,English-tingedAfrikaansassociatedwithurbanpretension.Meanwhile,theJapaneseversiontakesaimatbourgeoisconformityofadifferent

kind.TheJapanesetitleofthisepisodecallsherabenkyō no mama–a‘studymother’–insertingherintoaJapanesetropeoftheexam-obsessedmotherrelentlesslypushingherchildrentosucceed.Thisisbackedupbyherassertionthatinsteadofplaying,her three childrenwould rather study. In theAfrikaans version,Moominmammasimplyrespondswith:‘Areyousure?’,whileintheJapaneseversionshesays:‘Thatmakesthemprettystrangechildren’–amorepointedresponseinthecontextofEastAsianexamculture.In both cases Mrs. Fillyonk is implicitly contrasted with the more liberal

Moominmamma,andintheprocessshebecomesarebuketoestablishmentmodelsoffemininity inbothJapaneseandAfrikaanssociety,albeit indifferentwaysandwithdifferentdiscursiveagendas.Asmentionedabove,thedubbingteamtendedtoavoiddirectreferencestorace.

Thisisnottrueforgender.TheascribingofdifferencesinpersonalitytothegenderofthecharactersismuchmorecommonintheAfrikaansversionthanintheJapaneseversion. In episode 24,Moomin is suffering from a heavy cold and he is pining

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forhisfriendSnufkin,whoisawaytravellingsomewhereinthesouth.Moomin’sfriendsareconcernedthatifSnufkindoesnotreturn,Moominmightnotrecuperate.TheSnorkMaidendecidesthatsheshouldtravelsouthtolookforhim,eventhoughshedoesnotknowexactlywhereheis.Theydiscussthisplanwithherolderbrother,theSnork,whoisvehementlyopposedtotheidea.ThisiswheretheAfrikaansandJapanese versions really diverge. In the Japanese version the discussion revolvesaroundSnufkin’ssenseofindependenceandhowhewillnotreturntoMoominvalleyuntilheisready.Thisattributeisclearlygendered–theSnorkdescribeshimasnan yori mo kodoku wo ai shite iru otoko(amanwholovesnothingasmuchassolitude).However,thismanlyindependenceisnotexplicitlyplacedinabinaryoppositiontotheSnorkMaiden’sfemininity.Inotherwords,theJapaneseversiondoesnotimplythattheSnorkMaiden’sconcernislessrationalthanSnufkin’sstoicism,simplythattheyaredifferentand thathispersonalitymightberelated tohisgender.What ischaracterisedasirrationalisherinsistenceonsettingouttofindhimwhenhemightnotbeabletosolvetheproblem(theSnorkpointsoutthatSnufkinisnotadoctor).Incontrast,intheAfrikaansversiontheconversationrevolvesaroundtheSnork

Maiden’smotivation,describedinhighlygenderedterms.InthefirstplacetheSnorksaysherplanis‘sodumb,onlyadumbgirlcouldhavethoughtofit’.WhenshelatersaysshewantstoconvinceSnufkintocomebackbecauseMoominneedshim,heretorts:‘You[girls]areallthesame–nowyouwanthimtofeelguilty.’ThisgenderbinaryiscompletelylackingfromtheJapaneseversion(theparallelJapaneselineissimply:‘He’llcomebackwhenhewantsto’).TheAfrikaansversionsetsupadoublebinaryopposition,whichcharacteriseswomenassimultaneouslylessrationalandmorecunninglymanipulativethanmen.Itis,however,importanttomakeadistinctionbetweentheworkandthecharacter.

JustbecausetheSnorkissexistdoesnotnecessarilymeanthatMoeminisasexistwork.Asmentioned above, the need tomatchmouthmovements, scene lengths,basicstorybeatsandcharacterreactionsmeansthattheAfrikaansdubbingteamdidnothavethefreedomtointroduceanddevelopthemesinthesamewayasanauthorwould. In fact, it is difficult to parse theAfrikaans version’s overall ideologicalstance.ThedifferentexamplesshowthattheAfrikaansversionveersbetweenmoreandlessprogressivepoliticalstandpoints.RatherthanusingtheseriesasawindowintohowAfrikanerdomchangedduring

or after the1990s, it should, in this author’sview,beusedas awindow into theprocessesthatenableculturalglobalisationoutsideofHollywood.Inotherwords,herethecontentionisthatTanoshii Mūmin Ikka /Moeminprovidesaglimpseintoanalternativehistoryofnorth–southglobalisationoutsideofWesterndominance.Thisbecomesclearerwhenonedistinguishesitfromdochakuka(indigenisation),whichbecameabuzzwordinJapanesemarketingtheoryduringthe1990sandpassedintoWesterndiscourseinthesomewhatawkwardcoining‘glocalisation’.Itreferstothe

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strategiccladdingofagloballystandardisedcommodityinthespecificidiomofatargetmarket in order to facilitate its acceptance by local consumers (Robertson1995).Inotherwords,itrepresentstheadoptionoflocalspecificityasapre-plannedstrategy from thecentre to themargins. In contrast,Moemin presents a rarecasewherethemarkersofaparticulardiscursivemomentinSouthAfricanhistorybecamehybridisedwithagloballycirculatedcommodityfromthefarendofitsproductionprocess,ratherthanbecauseofaninitialplanningdecision.However,thenatureofthismomentwasthatSouthAfricansocietalstructureswerechangingradicallyandwiththem,theideologicalstructuresthatundergirdedthem.TheargumentcanbemadethattherelativeincoherenceoftheideologicalimplicationsintheAfrikaansversionisitself indicativeofthismomentoffluxinSouthAfricansociety.Atthesametime,Tanoshii Mūmin IkkaalsorepresentsamomentintheglobalisationofJapanesepopculture,whenhybridisationwasgivingwaytotheforegroundingoftheJapanese identityofJapaneseanimationasasellingpoint in the internationalmarketplace. The twin versions of this work therefore represent twin artefactsreflectingtheindustryconditionsthatimprintedthem.

Conclusion

ReferringtorecentattemptsbytheJapanesegovernmenttouseanimeaspartofits‘CoolJapan’campaignofsoftpowergeneration,theanimescholarMōriYoshitaka(2011:31–32)writes:

[A]nime,thoughusuallyseenbothasaculturalproductoriginatingfromJapanandasanexportintherecent‘CoolJapan’projectpromotedbytheJapanesegovernment,hasinfactbeenaveryhybridizedproductofthetransnationalproductionsystemfromthebeginningofitshistory.

Mōriwasreferringtothefactthatanimehasforalongtimebeeninked,colouredand so on in other parts ofAsia, and the Japanese government arguing that it isquintessentiallyJapanese,shouldbequestioned.Mōri’sargumentcanbeextendedbeyondtheproductionphase,bynotingthaterasingthehistoryofJapaneseanime’shybridisation with local cultures in the process of its distribution is not only amisrepresentationofanimehistory,butalsoofthehistoryofglobalisation.This article attempted to delineate aminuscule part of awider history. In the

processitalsoaimedtoanalysewhatthishybridisationrevealsaboutitshistoricalmoment in SouthAfrica.Because of the relationship between theAfrikaans duband the animation, this necessarily took the form of a series of glimpses, ratherthanasustainedcritique.While thisapproachmightbecriticisedaspiecemeal, itisvaluablefortworeasons.Inthefirstinstance,theideologicalincoherenceoftheAfrikaansversionrevealsthemomentofpoliticalandsocietalfluxwithinwhichit

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wasproduced,andstandsincontrasttoapartheid-eraattemptstoclaimaEuropeanidentityviadubbing,asseeninthe1970sdubbingofHeidi(VanStaden2011).Inthesecondinstance,itisamodeofanalysisthatisgroundedinthenatureofthedubbedanimeseriesasamaterialartefact.Here,aconceptualframewasprovidedwithinwhichengagementwithdubbedanimewouldproduceinsightsintothemomentofitshybridisation,whilenotviolatingitsmateriallimitsasahybridised,transnationalcommodity. Foucault’s (2002: 31) description of the statement within discourseseemsequallyapplicabletothepopcultureobjectwithinitsbroadercontext:

Howeverbanal itmaybe,howeverunimportant itsconsequencesmayappear tobe,however quickly it may be forgotten after its appearance, however little heard orhoweverbadlydecipheredwemayconsider it tobe,astatement isalwaysaneventthatneither the language (langue)nor themeaningcanquiteexhaust. It iscertainlyastrangeevent:first,becauseontheonehanditislinkedtothegestureofwritingortothearticulationofspeech,andalsoontheotherhanditopensuptoitselfaresidualexistenceinthefieldofamemory,orinthematerialityofmanuscripts,books,oranyotherformofrecording,secondlybecauselikeeveryeventitisunique,yetsubjecttorepetition,transformationandreactivation,thirdlybecauseitislinkednotonlytothesituationsthatprovokeitandtotheconsequencesitgivesriseto,butatthesametime,andinaccordancewithaquitedifferentmodality,tothestatementsthatprecedeandfollowit.

It is exactly the role of the children’s television programme as both inherentlytrivial,yetbeyondthefullgraspoflanguage;linkedtothepracticeofwritingandthematerialityofproductionandrecording;activeinmemoryandopentorepetitionwhilealsofallingwithinatraditionofsimilarmass-producedyetintimatenarratives,that makes it potentially revealing of the mechanisms of globalisation. Thecombinationofthesefactorsallowsustouseitasacasestudyofhowshiftsinglobalandlocalpowerrelationsaffectculturalproduction.InthecaseofTanoshii Mûmin Ikka and MoemintheseshiftsincludedtheriseofJapanasacreatoroftransnationallyconsumedaspirationalimagesthatlessenedtheneedtoeraseitsownorigin,whileinSouthAfricaitsawtheshiftfromapartheidtopost-apartheidlanguageandbroadcastpolicy. Both versions can be seen as artefacts reflecting bygone production anddistributionpractices.Inthiscase,thesepracticesopenedfissuresthatallowedthehybridisingoflocalandtransnationalnarrative.Thishybridisationthereforeatteststoboth the roleof Japan inculturalglobalisationand toSouthAfrica’s turbulentprogresstowardsdemocracy.

Acknowledgements

This researchwas enabled by a postdoctoral research fellowship at the SARChIChairforAfricanDiplomacyandForeignPolicyattheUniversityofJohannesburg.

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It forms part of awider research project tracing the spread of EastAsianmediainfluenceinsub-SaharaAfricainthecontextofmedia-fuelledsoftpowerexpansion.Theauthorgratefullyacknowledgesthesupport.

Notes1 Tanoshii Mûmin Ikka (The Happy Moomin Family),dir.SaitôHiroshiandKojima

Masayuki(1990);DVD(TokyoMedianet2008).2 Moemin (Moomin),dubbingdirectorAmorTredoux(1992);DVDnotcommercially

available.TheauthorwouldliketothankPeterSpamer,theownerofthecopyrighttotheAfrikaansversion, for providinghimwithDVDcopies of the series, aswell asCarolizeJansenfortechnicalassistancewithviewingtheDVDs.Thisaccountofthedubbingprocessisbasedonaseriesofinterviewstheauthorconductedwithmembersofthedubbingteam.

3 AllthetranscriptionsandtranslationsfromJapaneseandAfrikaansarebytheauthorandanymistakesaretheauthor’s.

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Documents

Moomin/Mūmin/Moemin: apartheid-era dubbing and Japanese animation