AN ANALYSIS OF JOKE TRANSLATION IN DATE NIGHT MOVIE.

AN ANALYSIS OF JOKE TRANSLATION
IN DATE NIGHT MOVIE

THESIS
Submitted as a Partial Fulfillment of Requirements
for the Sarjana Degree in English Department
Faculty of Cultural Sciences
Sebelas Maret University

By:
NADIA RIMADHANI GIUSTI
CO310041

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF CULTURAL SCIENCES
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
SURAKARTA
2015

xv


xv

PRONOUNCEMENT

Name : Nadia Rimadhani Giusti
NIM : C0310041

I stated truthfully that this thesis entitled An Analysis of Joke Translation
in Date Night Movie is originally written by me. It is neither a plagiarism nor
written by others. The information of previous works related to the thesis is all
referred in quotations and it is included in the bibliography. If later this
pronouncement is proved incorrect, I am ready to take any responsibility.

Surakarta, 12 November 2015
The Researcher

Nadia Rimadhani Giusti

xv


MOTTO

Surround yourself with the things you love, discard the rest
- Anonymous -

Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels
But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young
- Albus Dumbledore -

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times,
If one only remembers to turn on the light
- Albus Dumbledore -

xv

DEDICATION

This thesis is whole-heartedly dedicated to:

My beloved parents


Drs. Agus Nur Setyawan, M.Hum and Dra. Dwi Hastuti BW

My dearest companion

Audi Chairul Firdaus, S.T and Intan Nur Afifah

and

My thesis supervisor

Bayu Budiharjo, S.S., M.Hum

xv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Alhamdulillahirabbil’alamiin
First of all, I would like to thank to Allah SWT for His blessing and
guiding in completing this thesis entitled: AN ANALYSIS OF JOKE

TRANSLATION IN DATE NIGHT MOVIE from the beginning to the end.
I realize that this thesis will never be accomplished without the support,
help, and assistance from many individuals and institutions. Therefore, I would
like to utter my sincere gratitude to:
1.

Prof. Drs. Riyadi Santosa, M.Ed., Ph.D – as the Dean of Faculty of Cultural
Sciences, University of Sebelas Maret Surakarta.

2.

Drs. Agus Hari Wibowo, M.A., Ph.D – as the Head of English Department,
Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University of Sebelas Maret Surakarta.

3.

Bayu Budiharjo, S.S., M.Hum – as my thesis supervisor for the guidance,
help and advices. I would like to give my special thanks and gratitude for
always giving me times to share my problems and thoughts during finishing
my thesis.


4.

Prof. Dr Djatmika,M.A – as my academic supervisor, for the assistance
during my study. I also want to express my gratitude for the help in verifying
my data as my validator.

5.

All of English Department Lectures, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, University
of Sebelas Maret Surakarta, for the valuable knowledge and experience that
have been given during my study.

xv

6.

Bayu Dewa Murti, S.S., M.Hum – as my rater, for the time in analyzing my
data, and also for giving me guidance and thoughts in understanding
translation quality assessment.


7.

Umi Dwi Lestari, S.S., M.Hum – as my rater, for the time in analyzing my
data and discussing the translation quality assessment of my data.

8.

Sumardiono, S.S., M.Hum – as my rater, for the time in analyzing my data,
and also advice, suggestion, and explanation in understanding jokes.

9.

My beloved parents and sisters for the unlimited support, guidance, and
prayer to me every single day.

10. My dearest and lovely partner in life, Audi Chairul Firdaus, for the support
both mentally and physically. This thesis would never be finished without
him standing beside me.
11. My beloved and cute sister, Intan Nur Afifah, for always being there when I

needed company and assistance in completing this thesis.
12. My super kind and generous classmates; Dian, Ajeng, Putri, kak Dewi Ratih,
Agachi, Mifta, and others, for being helpful and giving me much information
in finishing my thesis, and for the time of our discussions about many things
related to translation and thesis. Many thanks to Dian that was always ready
when I needed a hand at finding references and when I needed a partner to
discuss everything related to my thesis, my comrade-in-arms.
Lastly, I hope this thesis brings benefit for readers and other researchers on
the similar research.

Nadia Rimadhani Giusti

xv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER .......................................................................................................

i


APPROVAL OF THE THESIS SUPERVISOR .........................................

ii

APPROVAL OF THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS ...................................

iii

PRONOUNCEMENT .................................................................................

iv

MOTTO ......................................................................................................

v

DEDICATION ............................................................................................

vi


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ..........................................................................

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................

ix

LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................

xii

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................

xiii

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................

xv


I.

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ....................................................

1

A. Research Background..........................................................

1

B. Research Limitation ............................................................

6

C. Problem Statements.............................................................

6

D. Research Objectives ............................................................


7

E. Research Benefit .................................................................

7

F. Thesis Organization ............................................................

9

xv

II.

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................

11

A. Definition of Translation .....................................................

11

B. Equivalence in Translation ..................................................

13

C. Problems in Translation ......................................................

15

D. Translation Techniques .......................................................

18

E. Translation Quality and Translation Quality

III.

Assessment (TQA) ..............................................................

27

F. Subtitling .............................................................................

31

G. Comedy, Humor, and Joke Theory .....................................

38

H. Types of Joke ......................................................................

44

I. Humor Translation ..............................................................

48

J. Date Night ...........................................................................

53

K. Relevant Research ...............................................................

55

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..........................

57

A. Research Type and Design ..................................................

57

B. Data and Source of Data .....................................................

58

C. Sampling Technique............................................................

60

D. Method of Data Collection ..................................................

61

E. Technique of Data Analysis ................................................

65

F. Research Procedure .............................................................

67

xv

IV.

CHAPTER IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ....

70

A. Introduction .........................................................................

70

B. Findings ...............................................................................

70

1. Translation Technique Used by the Translator to
Translate International Joke and National-culture-andinstitutions Joke Found in A Movie Entitled
Date Night .....................................................................

70

1.1. Types of Jokes ........................................................

71

1.2. Translation Technique ............................................

80

1. Single Techniques............................................

81

2. Multiple Techniques .......................................

85

2. The Impact of Techniques Used in the Translation to
the Quality, in Terms of Accuracy and Acceptability ..

111

A. Accuracy .................................................................

111

Accurate Translation ...............................................

113

Less Accurate Translation .......................................

121

B. Acceptability ...........................................................

131

Acceptable Translation............................................

132

Less Acceptable Translation ...................................

140

C. Discussion ...........................................................................

147

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION......

151

A. Conclusion ..........................................................................

151

B. Recommendation.................................................................

155

BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................

157

V.

APPENDICES
xv

LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 Translation Techniques by Gottlieb, based on Bobby
Michael (n.d.) ..............................................................................................

20

Table 3.1 Scoring System of Accuracy Point, based on Nababan, Nuraeni,
and Sumardiono (2012) ...............................................................................

64

Table 3.2 Scoring System of Acceptability Point, based on Nababan,
Nuraeni, and Sumardiono (2012) ................................................................

64

Table 4.1 Translation Techniques Used to Translate International Joke
and National-culture-and-institutions Joke Found in Date Night Movie ....

80

Table 4.2 Translation Quality in Accuracy Point........................................

112

Table 4.3 Translation Quality in Acceptability Point .................................

132

xv

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4.1 Example 1 of International Joke ................................................

72

Figure 4.2 Example 2 of International Joke ................................................

73

Figure 4.3 Example 3 of International Joke ................................................

74

Figure 4.4 Example 1 of National-culture-and-institutions Joke ................

75

Figure 4.5 Example 2 of National-culture-and-institutions Joke ................

77

Figure 4.6 Example 3 of National-culture-and-institutions Joke ................

79

Figure 4.7 Example 1 of Single Technique Application .............................

81

Figure 4.8 Example 2 of Single Technique Application .............................

82

Figure 4.9 Example 3 of Single Technique Application .............................

83

Figure 4.10 Example 4 of Single Technique Application ...........................

85

Figure 4.11 Example 1 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

86

Figure 4.12 Example 2 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

87

Figure 4.13 Example 3 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

88

Figure 4.14 Example 4 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

90

Figure 4.15 Example 5 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

91

Figure 4.16 Example 6 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

93

Figure 4.17 Example 7 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

95

Figure 4.18 Example 8 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

96

Figure 4.19 Example 9 of Multiple Techniques Application......................

98

Figure 4.20 Example 10 of Multiple Techniques Application....................

100

Figure 4.21 Example 11 of Multiple Techniques Application....................

101

Figure 4.22 Example 12 of Multiple Techniques Application....................

103

Figure 4.23 Example 13 of Multiple Techniques Application....................

104

xv

Figure 4.24 Example 14 of Multiple Techniques Application....................

107

Figure 4.25 Example 15 of Multiple Techniques Application....................

108

Figure 4.26 Example 1 of Accurate Translation .........................................

113

Figure 4.27 Example 2 of Accurate Translation .........................................

115

Figure 4.28 Example 3 of Accurate Translation .........................................

117

Figure 4.29 Example 4 of Accurate Translation .........................................

119

Figure 4.30 Example 1 of Less Accurate Translation .................................

121

Figure 4.31 Example 2 of Less Accurate Translation .................................

123

Figure 4.32 Example 3 of Less Accurate Translation .................................

126

Figure 4.33 Example 4 of Less Accurate Translation .................................

128

Figure 4.34 Example 1 of Acceptable Translation .....................................

133

Figure 4.35 Example 2 of Acceptable Translation .....................................

134

Figure 4.36 Example 3 of Acceptable Translation .....................................

136

Figure 4.37 Example 4 of Acceptable Translation .....................................

138

Figure 4.38 Example 1 of Less Acceptable Translation .............................

140

Figure 4.39 Example 2 of Less Acceptable Translation .............................

142

Figure 4.40 Example 3 of Less Acceptable Translation .............................

144

Figure 4.41 Example 4 of Less Acceptable Translation .............................

145

xv

ABSTRACT

Nadia Rimadhani Giusti. C0310041. 2015. An Analysis of Joke Translation in
Date Night Movie. English Department. Faculty of Cultural Sciences. Sebelas
Maret University Surakarta.
This is a descriptive qualitative research which focuses on analyzing
translation techniques and quality of international joke and national-culture-andinstitutions joke found in a movie entitled Date Night. It aims at (1) explicating
international joke and national-culture-and-institutions joke, (2) finding out the
translation techniques applied by the translator to translate international joke and
national-culture-and-institutions joke, and (3) explaining how the techniques
affect the translation quality of international joke and national-culture-andinstitutions joke, in terms of accuracy and acceptability.
This research employs purposive sampling technique. Date Night is
chosen as the source of data with international jokes and national-culture-andinstitutions jokes taken as the data. The total data are 79 data which consist of 58
international jokes and 21 national-culture-and-institutions jokes. The other data
are in the forms of information taken from the result of questionnaire given to the
three raters and in-depth interview with them.
The analysis of translation techniques shows that there are eight
techniques used by the translator to translate international jokes and nationalculture-and-institutions jokes, namely transfer, paraphrase, imitation,
transcription, expansion, deletion, condensation, and decimation. Those
techniques are applied as single techniques or combination of two to six
techniques. There are 13 (16.46%) data translated using single techniques and 66
(83.54%) data translated using multiple techniques.
The findings of the research in terms of translation quality show that 47
(59.49%) data of international joke are accurate, 11 (13.93%) data of international
joke are less accurate, 14 (17.72%) data of national-culture-and-institutions joke
are accurate, and seven (8.86%) data of national-culture-and-institutions joke are
less accurate. The analysis on the acceptability reveals that 47 (59.49%) data of
international joke are considered acceptable, 11 (13.93%) data of international
joke are considered less acceptable, 16 (20.25%) data of national-culture-andinstitutions joke are categorized into acceptable, and five (6.33%) data of nationalculture-and-institutions joke are categorized into less acceptable.
The technique which produces the largest number of accurate translation is
transfer, as many as 61 (77.22%) data. Meanwhile, decimation produces the
largest number of less accurate translation, as many as 11 (13.93%) data. Transfer
is also the most dominant technique which results in acceptable translation, as
many as 62 (78.48%) data. Meanwhile, less acceptable translation results from the
use of uncommon terminologies, inappropriate dictions, unnatural expressions,
and incomplete punctuation mark used by the translator.
From the result, the translator has successfully translated most of the
jokes. However, some jokes are less accurately or less acceptably translated

xv

because the translator uses wrong techniques or uses incomplete punctuation
mark, inappropriate dictions, unnatural expressions, or uncommon terminologies.
Keywords: joke translation, humor translation, types of joke, translation quality,
translation technique

iii