Emphatic / Focus loss upon translating between active and passive sentences?


## Background information

(Do point out if I got anything wrong along the way)

So I'm working through Jay Rubin's Making Sense of Japanese, and I've
familiarized myself with the concept of zero pronouns, and his aversion to the
"passivication" of active sentences.

From what I can gather, zero pronouns are used when the context makes it
clear. Following that, Rubin warns against overlooking a zero pronoun subject,
and interpreting an active sentence as a passive one.

For instance, when answering questions about what I had for lunch,

> Original text: 犬｛いぬ｝を食｛た｝べた。

should be translated actively as

> I ate a dog.

and not passively as

> A dog was eaten.
>
> A dog was eaten by me.

Because that would _shift the focus of the statement from the agent on to the
patient_ , by changing the subject from 'I' to 'a dog'. (Is this a kind of a
semantic loss?)

## Question

Conversely, in a English to Japanese translation from an active sentence

> I ate a dog.

to passive sentences such as

> 犬が食べられた。
>
> 犬が私に食べられた。

is there a similar loss in emphasis or topic focus along the way?

[According to Earthliŋ
here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6787/examples-of-when-
passive-form-in-english-takes-active-non-passive-form-in-japane/6788#6788),
"in Japanese, the passive voice leaves the focus of the action on the person
performing the action", which I take to mean that the focus is still on the
agent of the passive sentence, and not the subject. Is that interpretation
right?

If so, does that mean that a passive Japanese → active English translation
should be avoided because the initial focus is lost, but an active English →
passive Japanese translation is alright?




(In the first place, I don't think "in Japanese, the passive voice leaves the
focus of the action on the person performing the action" but on the
recipient.)

It doesn't only change focus or emphasis but also the meaning itself, in other
words, 犬が食べられた doesn't mean "I ate a dog" or "a dog was eaten by me", but
"they ate our dog", more accurately, "a dog in a closer position in my
perspective was eaten by someone in a more distant position".

So, 犬が私に食べられた sounds as if you are saying it under someone else's perspective.

