CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Language is “the system of communication in speech and writing that is used by people of a particular country”.
1
All people speak to communicate each other through language, both written and oral. Cartford defines language as a type
of pattern of human behavior that is a way in which human beings interacts each other in social situation.
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Language is an object in translation. Without language, translation can not be applied. Translation is a process conducted in language, a process of changing
a text in one language into another language. The change consists of some aspects, such as phonetic, grammatical, and semantic. Therefore, a translator must use the
theory of language as a footing or the principle that supports himher. In globalization era, translation is very useful and needed by human. By
translation, communication between human beings in various parts of the world can be done effectively. Science and technology which is evolving from many
countries may be accessed easily. Transfer of science, culture, and other social activities mostly is done through translation. In other words, translation is an
access to the innovation of science, technology, art and culture in order to a media center of the perspective of global communication. As a result, translator is a very
1
A.S. Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English New York: Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 752.
2
J.C. Cartford, A Linguistic Theory of Translation London: Oxford University Press, 1965, p. 1.
lucrative profession as payment for translation services is quite expensive. Moreover, if a translator has been a professional translator with specialized
certified, high-speed translation ability and the translation that heshe produces is good, heshe will get big income.
Based on the Association of Indonesian Translators HPI, the average tariff of written translation from Indonesian to English is Rp.75.000, -1.500
characters 3 pages, and 50,000, -1.500 characters for translation from English into Indonesian. As for interpreting, the charge is more expensive. It is
Rp.200.000, -hour or Rp.2.000.000, - in working day 8 hours.
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Of course, a translator is very benefit job.
However, in translating, all of the translators, both amateur and professional will face some problems. Even, in translating literary texts, such as
translating a novel. Translating a novel is a difficult job for translator. It consists of figurative language, cultural words, sentences, text coherences and cohesions
that require continuous compromise and readjustment. In addition, there is no- universality among linguist in deciding the term and the concept of the strategy
will be used. So that, it makes beginner translator confused whether the better strategy and term which they should use, especially, in translating literary text,
such as novel.
3
Anonymous, Tarif Penerjemahan Himpunan Penerjemah Indonesia. Accessed on November 7
th
2010. http:anindyamaharani.blogdetik.com20101021tarif-penerjemahan-hpi
, p.1
One of the problems in translating a novel is translating a word or phrase that is bound by culture, in which a translator must find a direct lexical equivalent
for a thing or event that is unknown foreign in receptor language culture. The word or phrase is mentioned as cultural words. As C. Thriveni declares that “A
transmitting cultural element through literary translation is a complicated and vital task. By the reason of culture is a complex collection of
experiences which condition daily life; it includes history, social structure, religion, traditional customs, and everyday usage.”
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In other words, a translator has difficulty in finding an equivalent of cultural words, because there is no direct and right equivalent which is used to
express the messages of source language in word or phrase of receptor language. The word buku in Indonesian has a direct equivalent in English, that is book, but
the cultural word such as golok a type of Indonesian knife is not found in English. There is no such knife in England. Otherwise, the word Halloween The
night of October 31
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which is believed to be the moment of the emergence of the people have dead in English is unknown in the Indonesian language. In this case,
there is non-equivalence in translating. It causes the untranslatability in rendering the message between two languages.
The untranslatability is due to cultural differences and the nature of language that is called sui generis. Cultural differences, like differences in point
4
C. Thriveni, Cultural Elements in Translation 2004. Accessed on November 7
th
2010. http:accurapid.comjournal19culture.htm
of view, customs, beliefs, environment, and others between source language and receptor language. The nature of language sui generis” means language has its
own characteristics that are different from other languages.
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Language is unique or has characteristics in culture. A language, however, has its meaning only in the
culture, as Newmark states that a language is partly the repository and reflection of a culture. Thus, different language may contain different cultures of different
ways of thinking.
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It causes the difficulty in translating cultural words for translator. In fact, the translator should be able to translate it even though there is
no equivalent or hard to find it. Therefore, it is necessary to find a procedure or a certain way to obtain the
equivalent in translating the non-equivalence which is cultural words. Thus, the translation is acceptable and easily understood by readers who are not familiar
with source language culture. The reader should get the intent of the author as a form of establishment of communication between writer and foreign reader. For
example, in a novel, there is written phrase panjat pinang which is translated into English to be an Indonesian game like pole climbing. Of course, the translation is
acceptable for the readers, because it is comprehensible, and it can communicate between the writer and the reader. In the translation, the phrase panjat pinang is
described. This way is one of the translation procedures, which is mentioned as descriptive equivalent. Descriptive equivalent is used to produce a natural
translation.
5
J.C. Cartford 1965, op.cit. p. 27.
6
Peter Newmark, Approaches to Translation Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1981, p. 183.
The translation procedure chosen is caused by the translation method that the translator decides. The method selected is caused by the ideology that
translator believes.
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In other word, first, the ideology that the translator considers, will decide the method heshe uses. Secondly the method heshe uses will choose
the strategy which is used. Related to the ideology of translating Behtash-Firoozkoohi, Munday and
Wenfen Yang mention it as translation strategy
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, another problem that the translator faces in translating literary text is no universality in translation, As
Savory says that:
“there are no universally accepted principles of translation, because the only people who are qualified to formulate them have agreed among themselves but
have so often and for so long contradicted each other that they have bequathed a volume of confused thought which must be hard to parallel in other fields of
literature.”
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Every linguist has the term and the notion own self in applying the translation. For example the translation theories had been in debating if translation
should be literal word-for-word or free sense-for-sense since Cicero time 106- 43 B.C. to the twentieth century.
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The central problem of translating has been going on, that is, the distinction of concept among scholars whether to translate
literally or freely since at least the first century BC. Up to the beginning of the
7
Roswita Silalahi, “Dampak Teknik, Metode, dan Ideologi Penerjemahan pada Kualitas Terjemahan Teks Medical-Surgical Nursing dalam Bahasa Indonesia”, Dissertation Medan: The
Library of North Sumatra University, 2009, pp.4-5. u.p.
8
E.Z. Behtash and Sepideh Firoozkoohi, “A Diachronic Study of Domestication and Foreignization Strategies of Cultural-Specific Items: in English-Persian Translation of Six of
Hemingway’s Works”, World Applied Science Journal 7 December 2009. Accessed on January 2th 2011.http:www.idosi.orgwasjwasj728122919.pdf.p. 1576.
9
Theodore Savory, The Art of Translation London: Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1986, pp. 49-50.
10
Wenfen Yang, “Brief Study on Domestication and Foreignization in Translation”, Journal of Language Teaching and Research
, Vol.1, No.1, pp. 77-80 January 2010. Accessed on January 2th 2011.http:ojs.academypublisher.comindex.phpjltrarticleview2413.
nineteenth century, many writers favor some kind of free translation, namely: the spirit, not the letter; the sense, not the words; the message rather than the form; the
matter, not the manner.
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Lately, the conflict in that concept is going on between Nida and Venuti. Nida as the representative, favors domesticating as the right
translation strategy. Meanwhile Venuti selects foreignizing as the better strategy.
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He Sanning tries to overcome those debates by introducing the new strategy. It is neutralizing. This notion is presented in FIT5
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Asian Translator Forum in Bogor, April 11-12
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2007. He states that it may be used to translate culture specific items to prevent the reader from misunderstanding that uniquely
cultural factor in a certain area becomes a common phenomenon all over the world.
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Therefore, there are three strategies that are different in conception. Those differences make student of translation or beginner translator
puzzled in applying the strategy and using term for translating. Terminological diversity and the overlapping of terms make it difficult to use them and to be
understood. Beside that, those strategies are not specialized in translating cultural words. Those are not explained to how the translator translates cultural words,
what procedure, method, and strategy that a translator uses. The transfer of meaning to the word or phrase that requires the procedure
as the implementation of the strategy of translation applied by the translator in
11
Peter Newmark, A Textbook of Translation Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International Ltd, 1988, p. 45
12
Wenfen Yang 2010, op.cit. p. 78.
13
He Sanning, “Lost and Found in Translating Tourist Text: Domesticating, Foreignising or Neutralizing Approach”, Translation and Cultural Dialogue, Bogor: Association of Indonesian
Translator, 2007, p. 125.
translating cultural words is included on the popular novel of Indonesia. The title of novel is Laskar Pelangi which was translated into English to be the Rainbow
Troops . In Laskar Pelangi, the writer finds some cultural words of Indonesian
which are translated into the Rainbow Troop, for example Dul Muluk is translated into Dul Muluk. The translator still uses the word Dul Muluk without giving the
explanation what it means in order to solve the untranslatability in translating cultural words. Beside that, the cultural word Dul Muluk can be domesticated,
foreignized, or neutral. Thus, the writer interested in doing the research. From the explanation above, there are two main problems; they are no-
equivalence and no-universality in translation. No-equivalence is no appropriate word in changing source language word that is bound by culture into receptor
language word that is caused the untranslatability. No-universality is there is no uniformity in the term and notion translation strategy. In this study, the writer tries
to analyze the cultural words in Laskar Pelangi which are translated by Angie Kilbane to English version, the Rainbow Troops.
B. Focus of the Study
Kategori