Background of The Study
Translating a text is not only in scientific fields but also in non-scientific fields. One of them is translating poetry. In some ways, reading poetry is much like
reading fiction, such as observing details of action and language, making connections and inferences, and drawing conclusions. We also bring to poetry some intellectual
and emotional dispositions. The same general experience with life and literature that we draw on in reading fiction. In addition, there is something different about reading
poetry.
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Poetry is the most personal and concentrated of the four forms, no redundancy, no phatic language, where, as a unit the word has greater importance
than any other type of text.
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Poetry can be said as an extraordinary literary works. As one of literary works, poetry has a special characteristic. Not like words in prose
which have descriptive character, the words in poem have very solid meaning. So the density of word make a word in poetry has many kinds of meaning or sense.
The sense of word is specific meaning that has in a given context. Most words have more than one sense.
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In addition, Kanya Puspokusumo stated:
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“To translate is one thing; to say how we do it, is another. Translating poetry without losing its beauty maybe is the most difficult thing. Because when we
try to do it, we cannot just take a dictionary and find the words we need and apply them. We need more than that. The privilege of poetry forces us to
find some appropriate translation methods, i.e. methods that can help us to
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Robert DiYanni, Literature, Approaches to Fictions, Poetry and Drama New York:McGraw - Hill Companies, Inc. 2004,p. 524
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Peter Newmark, A Textbook of Translation London: Prentice Hall, 1988,p.163
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Seymour Chatman, an Introduction to The Language Poetry Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,1968, p. 3
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Kanya Puspokusumo, Language and Journal Tourism of STBA Yapari, Bandung, 2008.
transfer language from the source to the target language without losing its meaning and its beauty. Translating poetry without losing its beauty is not s
nonsense job. We only need to „know how‟ to do it.”
In Indonesia many famous and great poets are Chairil Anwar, Goenawan Muhammad, WS. Rendra, Sanusi Pane, H.B. Jassin, H.K.S, Tatengkeng, Muhammad
Yamin, and the famous poets is Sapardi Djoko Damono. Sapardi Djoko Damono, he was born in Solo, Central Java on 20 March 1940, and graduated from University of
Gajah Mada Yogyakarta, in English Language and Literature in 1964. Since then, he has taught at a teachers college in madiun 1964-1968, University of Diponegoro,
Semarang 1968-1974, and University of Indonesia, Jakarta from 1974. He has been involved with the editorship of the major literary magazines Basis 1969-1975
and Horison from 1973. The publication of Sapardi‟s first poetry collection, dukaMu abadi Your
Sorrow is Eternal in 1969 may in a way be seen as a rebirth of Indonesian lyric poetry-fter a period of rough ideological rift during the 1960s. With clear, unadorned
language and delicate inwardness, Sapardi‟s poetry are in sharp contrast to the slogan-ridden language of the then ideologically polarised Indonesia. Those turbulent
times saw Sapardi finding his own voice in brief, limpid poems with simple yet pregnant imagery from everyday life. By the early 1970s he had already emerged as a
master of profound simplicity. Among his famous poetry collections are Mata Pisau 1974, Perahu Kertas
1983, Hujan Bulan Juni 1994, Arloji 1999, Ayat-Ayat Api 2000, Mata Jendela 2001, etc. Besides, there some his poets translated into English by foreign translator
such as: Sihir Hujan Balck Magic Rain by Harry Aveling at National University of Singapore in 1994, Water Color Poems, by John H. McGlynn, Temprint, Jakarta,
1986, Suddenly the Night, by John H. McGlynn, Lontar Foundation, Jakarta, 1988, Before Dawn, tr. John H. McGlynn, Lontar Foundation, Jakarta, 2005, etc.
Those literary works from Sapardi Djoko Damono above, the writer will analyze about faithful translation in two poetry: Sihir Hujan and Yang Fana adalah
Waktu translated by Harry Aveling into Black Magic Rain and Time is Meaningless. For instance, The source language SL
“Sihir Hujan ” is translated into “Black Magic Rain‟; the word “Black” in target language TL is a unity with the
word of “magic” in TL. In this context, the word “Black” is not about color but it is
refers to something mysterious activity which is represent to the word “sihir”. While, sihir can be defined as 1 Perbuatan yg ajaib yg dilakukan dengan pesona dan
kekuatan gaib guna-guna, mantra, dsb: ia terdiam spt kena --; 2 Ilmu tentang penggunaan kekuatan gaib; ilmu gaib teluh, tuju, dsb.
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The translator uses expressive and aesthetic function through the word “Black” so that the title of this
poetry is faithful with the source language SL. The author SL makes the rain such a metaphor which contains the message that he author tries to deliver both his idea
and experience, especially about life that correlated with God and the nature. Besides, the poetry of
“Black Magic Rain” sihir hujan represents the distinctive about beauty, strength, and understatement which is most of characteristic
Sapardi‟s poetry.
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Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, Edisi Keempat Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2008, p. 1303
In this poetry will move within the controlled range of imagery such as to show splendor of nature. But the main purpose of translator wants to share is messages that
can be delivered very well although it uses different dictions. Moreover, other object of poem is Yang Fana adalah Waktu into Time is
Meaningless. Grammatically, the TL structures are different with the SL but it does not important because the translator wants to keep the SL‟s message. So, this problem
makes the writer challenges to research. That poetry is supposed to be faithful in the TL based on theory of faithful translation. The writer thinks that there many
differences between the SL and TL. This research entitled “Faithful Translation in Sapardi Djoko Damono’s Poetry Translated by Harry Aveling”.