All of the lines in English are all translated into Bahasa Indonesia, and all of them are made into songs. However, there are some differences between the
syntax of the Bahasa Indonesia songs compared to the English songs. For example in the Bahasa Indonesia translated song of Color of the Wind we can find an
example of the shift in category. The English line said “and you’ll never hear a wolf cried to blue corn moon” but the Bahasa Indonesia said “dan kau dengar
tangis serigala di bulan biru”. This is not equivalent in meaning, as the English is negative statement and the Bahasa Indonesia is positive. However, when
translating a song a translator need to follow certain rules, that sometimes makes the rule of syntax and meaning are ignored. Furthermore, when it comes to song,
it is acceptable by all community that composer or singer and in this case the translator may violate the rules of grammar.
a. Blank Verse Translation
Lefevere proposed seven kinds of translation strategies in translating literary works. In this case it is applied in the form of song, as song has similarity with
poem. Of all the seven translation strategies, it is found that the blank verse is the most frequent translation techniques used in the translated Bahasa Indonesia
songs. Blank Verse Translation tends to ignore the rhyme of a verse and concern on conveying the context of the original towards the target text. There are found
83 times that blank verse translation is used across the five songs. It also can be said that the use of this strategies is used evenly in translating the five songs
Example:
Table 18.
Blank Verse Translation Discussion Examples Code
English Bahasa
011AIIIAS- ASCO-
COBVPE
Conceal don’t feel, don’t let them know
Sembunyikan yang sebenarnya
035BIIIAS- ASCO-
COBVPE
But if you walk a footsteps of a stranger
Jika kau ikutan jejak yang lain
119EIAS- ASCO-
COBVPE
Tale as old as time Dongeng yang lama
In the example above, all three lines use Blank Verse Translation. The first line is taken from the third stanza of the first song, Let It Go
. The line “conceal don’t feel, don’t let them know” is translated into “sembunyikan yang
sebenarnya”. These two lines are equivalent. It might not word-for-word equivalent, but as a meaning, it goes the same. It has the same tone, and meter,
though a different rhythm, so that it cannot be included in Metrical Translation. If the translator aimed to translate it by using Literal Translation, it would become
“sembunyikan, jangan rasakan, jangan biarkan mereka tahu.” It would be too long. In translating a song text, translator needs to pay attention towards the
music, and also the syllable and stresses of a line. This translation has paid attention towards the number of syllable for a note, but there are different stresses
in syllable, The second line is taken from the third stanza of Color of the Wind. Here is
still the same reason. The line “but if you walk a footstep of a stranger” is not
translated word-for-word, but by taking account the context of the whole line. If it is translated by using Literal Translation, it would be too long, for the music.
However, through the meaning, it is quite equivalent. A footstep of a stranger is translated into “jejak yang lain”. In this line, Pocahontas tells John Smith to
follow other than his footstep, hence a stranger, because both individual are coming from different races. In Bahasa Indonesia, the translator just wanted to
emphasis of the differences between two of them, that they only translated it into jejak yang lain. It also means a different footstep, other than him.
The third line is another example of Blank Verse Translation. It is taken from the first stanza of Beauty and the Beast. In this line, it is very obvious of the
meaning equivalence between the two lyrics. “Tale as old as time” is translated into “Dongeng yang lama” it is acceptable not only in music length, meter, but
also in meaning. Old as time, is very old, nobody knows how old the time is. It is equivalent, and acceptable to say that old as time as “lama” in Bahasa Indonesia
Translation. It may look similar to Literal Translation, but if it is employ Literal Translation, then the translated line will said “Dongeng setua waktu”.
Blank Verse Translation as the most used translation strategy to translate a song seems correct. When translating a song, the translator needs to rely heavily
on the musical notes. Translator cannot passed the rule musical note created for a line, that be said, the translator need to ignore the rhyme and form, but not
ignoring the context of the song. When it comes to a song, the audience needs to know the message so that they can enjoy the song, Blank Verse Translation is
appropriate strategy for that.
b. Literal Translation
