THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH SONG “SHOUT TO THE LORD” INTO “NYANYI DAN BERSORAKLAH” IN BAHASA INDONESIA: A STUDY OF ITS ACCURACY, ACCEPTABILITY, READABILITY, AND STYLE
THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH SONG
“SHOUT TO THE LORD” INTO “NYANYI DAN
BERSORAKLAH” IN BAHASA INDONESIA:
A STUDY OF ITS ACCURACY, ACCEPTABILITY,
READABILITY, AND STYLE
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
RENTO ARI NUGROHO
Student Number: 054214053
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH SONG
“SHOUT TO THE LORD” INTO “NYANYI DAN
BERSORAKLAH” IN BAHASA INDONESIA:
A STUDY OF ITS ACCURACY, ACCEPTABILITY,
READABILITY AND STYLE
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters
By
RENTO ARI NUGROHO
Student Number: 054214053
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
The Translation of English Song “Shout to the Lord” into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah” in Bahasa Indonesia: A Study of Its Accuracy, Acceptability, Readability and Style By Rento Ari Nugroho
Student Number : 054214053 Approved by
Harris H. Setiajid, S. S., M. Hum. January 13, 2011
Advisor
Anna Fitriati, S. Pd., M. Hum. January 13, 2011
Co-Advisor
A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis
The Translation of English Song
“Shout to the Lord” into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah” in
Bahasa Indonesia: A Study of Its Accuracy, Acceptability,
Readability and Style
By
Rento Ari Nugroho
Student Number : 054214053 Defended before the Board of Examiners
On January 27, 2011 And Declared Acceptable
BOARD OF EXAMINERS
Name SignatureChairman : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. ______________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. ______________ Member : Harris H. Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum. ______________ Member : Anna Fitriati, S.Pd., M.Hum. ______________ Member : Dr. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. ______________
Yogyakarta, January 31, 2011 Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University Dean
Dr. I. Praptomo Baryadi, M. Hum
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Rento Ari Nugroho Nomor Mahasiswa : 054214053
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
THE TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH SONG “SHOUT TO THE
LORD” INTO “NYANYI DAN BERSORAKLAH” IN BAHASA
INDONESIA: A STUDY OF ITS ACCURACY,
ACCEPTABILITY, READABILITY, AND STYLE
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal 31 Januari 2011 Yang menyatakan Rento Ari Nugroho
If you walk with God’s destiny for your life
and you are under His guide and anointing,
you obey it and never get out of it, you will
never die before your destiny is accomplished.- Pdp. Ribka Sri Lestari-
“eenwaardig tegengeschenk is voor al de schatten die
jaar in jaar uit van dit door de natuur zo rijk
gezegende eiland ons toestromen”
-NBS Board, a comment on Bible translation for
Javanese-
To be different is sometimes a pain.
I dedicate this work for all of those who get hurt because of their uniqueness In a deep and great respect to:
Darlene Zschech
Darlene’s longing to God and her worship to Him is clearly heard on her music and songs. Michael W. Smith—Song writer, author and musician
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
At the first place, I want to give thanks my God in Jesus Christ, the only one that I give my grateful heart. And then, I would like to give thank to my family that fully support me to reach my future: my father, my mother, my two younger brothers, my uncle and aunt who support me to take higher education.
After that, I would like to thanks Pak Harris H. Setiajid, S.S., M.Hum., my advisor for his priceless helps, guidance, and advices. His patience to guide me on writing this undergraduate thesis is one of the greatest motivations for me. Also, I would like to thank Bu Anna Fitriati S.Pd., M.Hum., my co-advisor for her helpful advices.
And then, I would extend my gratitude to Bu Elisa, Mbak Amie, Greg, Ria, Tri, and her friends at PBSID Sanata Dharma University. All of your contribution on filling my questionnaire helped me so much. Thank you!
My gratitude also for my friends in the cell-community Lion of Judah: Keke, Ephra, Eel, and Alex Yudo. The last, but the best, I’d like to thank my greatest supporter, Deborah Ursulani Bonatiur. All of their supports empower me to work harder. I also would like to appreciate my community, GBI Generasi Apostolik Sangen, Pdp. Ribka SL. Her prayers and advices guide me through my faith-journey. Also, Pak Jarot, Pak Yo, Pak Wagimin, Bu Puji, Mbak Siska, Mas Andi, Mas Fajar, and Yason
The last, I would thank my friends in English Letters Program, Anto, Agathon, and all of my friends whose names cannot be mentioned here.
Rento Ari Nugroho.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE .........................................................................................................i
APPROVAL PAGE ..............................................................................................ii
ACCEPTANCE PAGE …………………………………………………….…...iii
PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN……………………………………………..iv
MOTTO PAGE .....................................................................................................v
DEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………………….vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………….…...ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………..x
LIST OF DIAGRAMS, CHARTS, AND TABLES………………………..…xi
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………….....xii
ABSTRAK ……………………………………………………………….. …...xiii
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………1
A. Background of the Study ………………………………………..…1 B. Problem Formulation …………………………………………..…. 4 C. Objectives of the Study..................................................................... 4 D. Definition of Terms ……………………………………………...... 4CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ………………………………….. 7
A. Review of Related Studies ………………………………………... 7 B. Review of Related Theories …………………………………….….9 C. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………..19 D. Research Framework …………………………………………..... 20CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………. 23
A. Object of the Study ………………………………………………. 23 B. Method of the Study …………………………………………...… 24 C. Research Procedure ………………………………………….…...25CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ……………………………………………….…. 30
A. Translation Quality Assessments1. Accuracy……………………………………………………....30
2. Acceptability…………………………………………………..41
3. Readability…………………………………………………….52
B. Stylistics Analysis
1. Musical Devices……………………………………………….66
2. Sound Pattern and Rhythm………………………………….69
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION …………………….…………………………73
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………….……..... 77APPENDICES ……………………………………………………….………... 78
Appendix 1: The Original Song and Its Translation...………………….……..... 80 Appendix 2: The Questionnaire.....................................................................…... 81 Appendix 3: The Result of Questionnaire………………………………………..90LIST OF DIAGRAMS, CHARTS, AND TABLES LIST OF DIAGRAMS Diagram 1: Diagram Research Framework of Translation
Quality Assessment on the Accuracy, Acceptability, and Readability of the Translation of Shout to the Lord into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah”………………………………………
22 LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Chart on Respondents’ Accuracy……………………..
41 Chart 2: Chart on Respondents’ Acceptability………………....
52 Chart 3: Chart on Respondents’ Readability…………………...
61 Chart 4: Chart on Respondents’ Total Assessment…………….
62 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Accuracy score and indicator (in Nababan, 2004: pp. 54-65)…………………….
14 Table 1.2 : Accuracy score and indicator (in Nababan, 2004: pp. 54-65)…………………….
31 Table 2.1: The Score and range of the category of accuracy…..
14 Table 2.2: The Score and range of the category of accuracy…..
32 Table 3: The modification of Nababan Accuracy’s indicator into Acceptability indicator………………………
42 Table 4: The Score and range of the category of acceptability...
42 Table 5: The modification of Nababan’s Accuracy indicator into readability indicator…….
53 Table 6: The Score and range of the category of readability.….
54 Table 7: The Musical devices comparison……………………...
65 Table 8: The end-rime comparison……………………………..
68
ABSTRACT
RENTO ARI NUGROHO. The Translation of English Song “Shout to the
Lord” into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah” in Bahasa Indonesia: A Study of Its
Accuracy, Acceptability, Readability, and Style. Yogyakarta: Department of
English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2011.
Song translation is a part of translation material scopes. Although it is nearly not commonly recognized by the public since the common material to translate is printed materials like books, in fact, the concern on song translation exists for a long time. Many famous songs had been translated into Bahasa Indonesia like song “Silent Night” which was translated into Bahasa Indonesia entitled “Malam Kudus”. From the short analysis, the song’s translation in fact has some problems. However, there is no one who has any abjection toward the translation of the song. That phenomenon motivates the researcher to conduct research on the translation of another famous gospel song which is already translated into Bahasa Indonesia: the song entitled “Shout to the Lord” which was translated into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah”. Since the research is conducted to know the quality of the translation of the song, the research focuses on accuracy, acceptability, readability and style of the song. The style here does not focus on the entire style exploration of the song but focus on the musical devices, sound pattern and rhythm of the song.
There are two problem formulations on this undergraduate thesis. The first problem formulation of this thesis assesses the accuracy, acceptability, and the readability of the song. The second problem formulation is the evaluation of the musical devices on the original song and the translated song.
The methodology which is used on this research is library and field research which are combined. The library research was done to access the theory on accuracy, acceptability, readability, musical devices, sound pattern, and rhythm. And then, the field research was done to do the data collection. After that, the analysis was conducted to find the quality of the translation work.
The result found in the first problem formulation which is related to the accuracy is that there 2 accurate data, 8 quite accurate data but some have significance error, and 5 not accurate data. The accuracies score of the Indonesian version of Shout to the Lord is 2.13 that means quite accurate or in percentage it is 53.25%. In the acceptability, there are 3 data that are acceptable, 11 data are quite acceptable, and 1 datum (AN/B15) is not acceptable and 1 datum which is unacceptable (AN/B11). The acceptability score is 1.98 that means quite accurate or in percentage it is 49.50%. For the readability, the scoring shows that there are 10 data which are readable, 2 data are quite readable, and 4 data are not readable. The readability score is 1.65 that means quite readable or in percentage it is 41.25%. About the musical device, sound pattern, and rhythm the research found that the translator has successfully transfer the message and the aesthetic aspect of the work. The translator does not only recreate the work but also add some aesthetic aspects which do not exist in English.
ABSTRAK
RENTO ARI NUGROHO. The Translation of English Song “Shout to the
Lord” into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah” in Bahasa Indonesia: A Study of Its
Accuracy, Acceptability, Readability, and Style. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra
Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2011.
Penerjemahan lagu adalah salah satu bagian cakupan bahan terjemahan. Walaupun hampir jarang diakui publik karena bahan umum untuk penerjemahan adalah materi cetak seperti buku. Faktanya, perhatian dalam penerjemahan lagu telah lama ada. Banyak lagu terkenal telah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Indonesia seperti lagu “Silent Night” yang telah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Indonesia menjadi berjudul “Malam Kudus”. Dari analisis singkat, kenyataannya penerjemahan lagu itu memiliki beberapa permasalahan. Namun, tidak ada seorangpun yang keberatan dengan penerjemahan lagu tersebut. Fenomena ini memotivasi peneliti untuk meneliti penerjemahan lagu rohani lain yang terkenal yang telah diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Indonesia: lagu berjudul “Shout to the Lord” diterjemahkan menjadi “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah”. Karena penelitian dilakukan untuk mengetahui kualitas penerjemahan lagu, penelitian berfokus pada akurasi, keberterimaan, keterbacaan, dan corak penulisan lagu. Corak di sini tidak berfokus kepada eksplorasi menyeluruh pada lagu namun berfokus pada peranti musikal, pola bunyi, dan ritme.
Terdapat dua perumusan masalah dalam skripsi ini. Perumusan masalah yang pertama adalah menilai akurasi, keberterimaan, dan keterbacaan lagu. Perumusan masalah yang kedua adalah evaluasi peranti musikal pada lagu asli dan lagu terjemahan.
Metodologi yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah studi pustaka dan lapangan yang dikombinasikan. Studi pustaka dilakukan untuk mengakses teori akurasi, keberterimaan, keterbacaan, dan peranti musical. Kemudian, studi lapangan dilakukan untuk mengumpulkan data. Lebih lanjut, analisis dilakukan untuk menilai kualitas karya terjemahan.
Hasil dari perumusan masalah yang pertama adalah terdapat 2 data yang akurat, 8 data yang cukup akurat namun memiliki kesalahan yang signifikan, dan 5 data yang tidak akurat. Nilai akurasi versi Bahasa Indonesia “Shout to the Lord” adalah 2,13 yang berarti cukup akurat dan dalam persentase adalah 53,25%. Dalam keberterimaan, terdapat 3 data yang berterima, 11 data cukup diterima, 1 data yang tidak diterima(AN/B15) dan 1 data yang sama sekali tidak diterima (AN/B11). Nilai keberterimaan adalah 1,98 yang berarti cukup diterima atau dalam persentase adalah 49,50%. Untuk keterbacaan, penilaian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat 10 data yang mudah dipahami, 2 data cukup mudah dipahami, dan 4 data yang tidak mudah dipahami. Nilai keterbacaan adalah 1,65 yang berarti cukup mudah dipahami atau dalam persentase adalah 41,25%. Mengenai peranti musikal, pola bunyi, dan ritme, peneliti menemukan bahwa penerjemah telah berhasil mentransfer pesan dan aspek estetis dari karya. Penerjemah tidak hanya berhasil mengkreasi ulang karya, namun juga menambahkan aspek estetis yang tidak terdapat dalam Bahasa Inggris.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study Song translation is a part of translation material scopes. Although it is
not commonly recognized by the public since the common material to translate is printed materials such as books, in fact, the concern on song translation exists for a long time, for example “Silent Night” which is translated into “Malam Kudus” in Bahasa Indonesia. Those songs, either original song or translated song are really famous in Indonesia. When Christmas comes, those songs are broadcasted widely through various media. As the result, public becomes familiar to those songs.
Since the song is really famous, the problem arises: does the public really concern on the translation of the song? If the song is analyzed: Silent night, holy night All is calm, all is bright Round yon Virgin Mother and Child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace (Joseph Mohr, 1818) translated into:
Malam Kudus, sunyi senyap; Dunia terlelap Hanya dua berjaga terus Ayah bunda mesra dan kudus; Anak tidur tenang Anak tidur tenang
(YAMUGER/Pan. Lit. K. A. J, 1980)
1
2 It is clear that the song is not translated accurately. On the first line on the translated song, the order of the phrases is reversed while the word “night” on the second place is deleted. On the second line, the word “all” is translated into “dunia” whereas the words “calm” and “bright” are translated into one word “terlelap.” On the third line, “Round yon Virgin Mother and Child” is translated into “Hanya dua berjaga terus.” On the fourth line, “Holy infant so tender and mild” is translated into “Ayah bunda mesra dan kudus.” And then, on the line 5 and 6, “Sleep in heavenly peace” is translated into “Anak tidur tenang.”
From the brief analysis above, it can be concluded that the translated song misses so many meanings and words. Considering that it is a gospel or religious song, the enormous sum of the loss meaning is needed to be questioned. What is abnormal here is the respond of the public to the “problem” on the translation process does not appear. There is no significant protest toward the translation of the song, although the translated song is not exactly the same like the original song, the public accept it without any objection. It becomes the biggest curiosity to write the thesis: how is the quality of the song translation in Indonesia?
Considering that there are so many song translations in Indonesia, one of the good ways to present the research on song translation is to choose the newest and the most popular song recently. Therefore the thesis will discuss the translation of the song “Shout to the Lord” which is translated into “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah” in Bahasa Indonesia. The song is chosen because it is well known throughout the world; moreover the translated version in Bahasa Indonesia
3 becomes one of the most successful translated songs. Moreover, the song is the newest contemporary gospel song which is the most popular in the modern era.
The translated song entitled “Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah” is sung by many singers and recorded into many albums in Indonesia.
The song “Shout to the Lord” came from an English speaking country which is close to Indonesia—Australia. The songwriter is a famous worship leader and gospel singer Darlene Zscech from Hillsong Church. As the song is very popular:
Saya semula diminta untuk menulis buku ini karena ada begitu banyak orang ingin mengetahui bagaimana “Shout to the Lord”, sebuah lagu yang ditulis oleh seorang wanita Australia, dapat menjadi lagu penyembahan favorit di seluruh penjuru dunia. (Zscech: 2003: 14, Bahasa
Indonesia version) At the first place I was asked to write this book since there are so many people wanted to know how “Shout to the Lord,” a song written by an Australian woman becomes the most favourite worship song around the globe. (Zscech: 2003: 14, translated) the song is very popular so that many people amazed and the will to find out further about the song appeared.
Unfortunately, after several efforts, the researcher cannot identify the translator. Therefore, this research will focus on the works themselves. However, the curiosity still invites the discussion of the translation process of the song. Since the song is famous, how about the accuracy, acceptability, and readability of the song? Also, about the style, it is interesting to discuss the style as the musical devices, sound pattern, and rhythm since the material to discuss are a song. The research is conducted from the motivation that there must be “something” behind
4 the famous song and its translation. Whether “something” is good translation or bad translation, the research will find it out.
B. Problem Formulation There are two problems formulated in this research, namely:
1. How are the accuracy, readability, and acceptability of the translated song?
2. How is the style in the term of musical devices, sound pattern and rhythm of the source language song compared to the translated song?
C. Objectives of the Study
By the problems formulated above, the objective of this study is to identify the quality of the translation work on its accuracy, readability, and acceptability. Also, the style on the musical devices, sound pattern, and rhythm of the original and translated work will be analyzed to identify whether they have some changes or not. The changes are very important to identify since the song has some distinctive characteristics that differs it with a poem. Also, the changes are assumed to affect the way the song is performed.
D. Definition of Terms
The terms used in the research are:
Song According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, song is defined as: a short piece of music with words for singing.
5
Accuracy According to Nababan (2004:61) the accuracy of the translation
is related to how far the content of the source text can be delivered correctly into the target language.
Acceptability It is also mentioned as the commonness, or it is a term
which is considered common and genuine inside a particular community. It means, a terminology or idiom is considered common in a community, but for the other communities that terminology or idiom is considered as uncommon. Since its characters are really relative, the examination of the acceptability of a translated text is conducted by requesting the members of certain community to appraise that translation work; whether it is considered as common or uncommon in their community. For example, to examine the acceptability of the translation work of the medical text, thus, the person who is requested to appraise is the doctor community, not the lawyer (Setiajid: 2007: 8)
Readability Elkins revealed that
“Readibility is simply how easy a piece is to comprehend. This is the single most important characteristics of your manuscript (2001: 1)” from the statement above, the readability is about a comprehension of a text, to understanding easily a translated text in the target language context.
Style Peter Verdonk, on his book, Stylistics defines style in language as
the analysis of distinctive expression in language and the description of its purpose and effect. (Verdonk 2002: 4)
Musical Devices According to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English , music is the arrangement of sounds made by instruments or voices in a
6 way that is pleasant or exciting. And then, the definition of musical is connected with music or consisting of music. Whereas, the definition of device is a special way of doing something that makes it easier to do. Therefore, the definition of musical devices is a special way of doing the arrangement of sounds.
Sound Patterning Longman dictionary of Contemporary English defines
sound as something that you hear, and defines patterning as the development of fixed ways of behaving, thinking, doing thing etc. as a result of copying and repeating actions, language etc. Therefore, sound patterning can be defined as the development of fixed ways of something that you can hear.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW A. Review of Related Studies Discussing the translation quality assessment of the Indonesian translation
of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose which is translated by Ani Suparyati and published by Jalasutra in Yogyakarta, Harris H. Setiajid (2007) focuses his assessment on accuracy, readability and acceptability of the translation of the Christian terms in the novel. He finds two phenomena in this study that in the target text appears translation which is accurate but unaccepted by the reader; and also translation which is inaccurate but also unaccepted by the reader.
Diah Puspitaratri, in her undergraduate thesis, Translation Quality
Assessment: A Study on the Accuracy, Naturalness and Acceptability of the
Translation of Leo Tolsoy’s “After the Dance” into Bahasa Indonesia “Setelah
Pesta Dansa” by Anton Kurnia (2010), analyzes the accuracy, naturalness, and
acceptability of the translation work Her research found out that in the final result of the research and analysis, the translation text “Setelah Pesta Dansa” translated by Anton Kurnia – the
Indonesian version of an English short story written by Leo Tolstoy “After the Dance” – is declared as an “Inaccurate, Natural and Accepted Translation” due to its final assessment scores on the accuracy level. In her research, she also gives some revisions on the result of the inaccuracies in the translation work. Moreover, it is interesting how the readers in Indonesia accept the translation work that is
7
8 inaccurate but natural; it indicates that the reader has the possibility to accept a translation work which is inaccurate as long as it fulfills the naturalness of the translation.
Peter Verdonk (2002: 57-65) in his book entitled “Stylistics” gives an example of interpreting of a complete poem. He interprets the poem entitled ‘“Clearances”: In memoriam M. K. H., 1911-1984’. At the first place, he reveals the person or the characters in the poem and finds the relationship among the characters. He tries to identify the characters in the poem and relate them with the real person in the author’s life. After that he moves to the relationship between the linguistics texture of the poem and the information that there are real persons who are in the poem can substantiate and extend the impression. He also discussed the musical devices of the poem that help the interpretation of the poem.
The research that the writer will conduct is aimed to find out the translation quality in the Indonesian translation of Shout to the Lord which is translated into Nyanyi dan Bersoraklah. The translation quality is based on the accuracy, acceptability and readability. Furthermore, the thesis will compare the style on the source text and the target text. The difference between this research and the one which was conducted by Harris H. Setiajid is in the material and focus to analyze. The writer will discuss on the song instead of the novel. Also, the writer will focus on the style especially on the musical devices while Setiajid focuses on the Christian terms. Therefore, this research will not only give attention on the quality of the translation work but also focus on the style in musical devices.
9 Furthermore, the research is different from what is done by Diah
Puspitaratri. While Diah discusses a novel, the writer will discuss a song which is considered as a poem. Related with what Peter Verdonk discussed on his book, the differences with what the writer will do is on the stylistics discussion of the poem. While Verdonk discusses almost all aspect of style, the writer will only discuss the musical devices that somehow lay on the repetition of some aspects on the work like the rime, alliteration, assonance, and consonance.
B. Review of Related Theories
1. Definition of Translation
According to Nida and Taber in The Theory and Practice of Translation, translating consists of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalence of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. Therefore, a translation is a reproduction of the message of the Source Text toward Target Text. Beside that in the translation process, the priority is the meaning in the first place and the style in the second place.
Another definition of translation comes from Peter Newmark from his book entitled Approaches to Translation; he stated that translation is a craft consisting in the attempt to replace a written message and/or statement in one language by the same message and/or statement in another language. It can be concluded that a translation is an effort to send the message from Source Text into
10 Target Text by replacing the content in the source language with the same content in the target language.
2. Definition of A Good Translation
In the translation process, it is not only the meaning which is needed to be kept, there are more than that. As A. F. Lord Woodhouselee Tytler who is quoted by Roger T. Bell in Translation and Translating: Theory and Practice states: that in which the merit of the original work is so completely transfused into another language, as to be as distinctly apprehended, and as strongly felt, by a native of the country to which that language belongs, as it is by those who speak the language of the original works (1991: 11). It can be concluded that a good translation should deliver the content like the original text. By doing so, the understanding between the Target Text readers is the same like the Source Text readers. Besides, he introduces three laws of translation: i. That the translation should give a complete transcript of the ideas of the original work. ii. That the style and manner of writing should be of the same character with that of the original iii. That the translation should have all the ease of original composition. (Tytler in
Bell, 1991: 11) Therefore, that besides the meaning, the style and manner of the writing have the same significance to make a translation work can be mentioned as a good
11 translation. Also, the original composition should be kept, that means a translation work should have the same composition as the translated work.
3. Accuracy
According to Newmark in his book A Textbook of Translation states that to assess the translation work, the aspect that should be assessed is the accuracy on the pragmatic and referential. The accuracy on the pragmatics means that the translated work should be able to communicate nicely the content from the original text to translated text. Therefore, the accuracy on the referential is that the translated text is accurate and does not have any mistakes. (Newmark 1988: 188)
Alan Duff as quoted by Harris Setiajid on his workbook on Translation 1 states that the translation should reflect accurately the meaning of the original text.
Further he explains that nothing should be arbitrarily added or removed, though sometimes part of the meaning can be transposed. (Duff 1989) He proposed following questions to help the assessment of accuracy of the translation work: a. Is the meaning of the original text clear? If not, where does the uncertainty lie?
b. Are any words loaded, that is, are there any underlying implications?
c. Is the dictionary meaning of a particular word the most suitable one?
d. Does anything in the translation sound unnatural or forced?
12
4. Acceptability
About the acceptability, Setiajid states that the acceptability can be named as prevalence, thus, a certain idiom or terminology can be considered as prevalence and common in the certain community. It means, an idiom or terminology can be considered as common in certain community but can be considered as unnatural in the other communities. Since its characteristics which are relative, the assessment on the acceptability of a translation work can be conducted by asking the members of certain community to asses a certain translation work whether it can be considered as common or uncommon in their community. For example, to assess the acceptability of medical text, the community which is asked to assess is the community of physician, not the community of the lawyer. (Setiajid 2007: 8)
5. Readability
Some translation experts define readability as following. Bell proposed: Translation is the expression in another language, preserving semantic and stylistics equivalences. (Bell 1991: 5) Here, Bell states that the equivalences on the semantic and stylistics is the concern on the readability.
Whereas Sakri states that
Keterbacaan adalah derajad kemudahan oleh sebuah teks untuk dipahami maksudnya . (Sakri 1994: 165)
Readability is the degree of facilitation of a text to be understood its purpose. (Translated)
13 On the statement above, readability means the order of facility for the reader in the target language to understand the purpose of the original work.
Also, Elkins states that Readability is simply how easy a piece is to comprehend. This is the single most important characteristic of your manuscript. (Elkins 2001: 1) According to Elkins, readability is how easy the reader will understand the translation work. Also, it is the most important thing on the translation work which is translated by the translator.
From the three statements above, readability can be concluded as the naturalness of the translated work, the easiness of the translated work to be read in the target language, and how easy a translated work can be understood.
6. Translation Quality Assessment
According to Peter Newmark (1988: 186), a comprehensive criticism of a translation has to cover 5 topics: (1) a brief analysis of the source language text stressing its intention and its functional aspects; (2) the translator’s interpretation of source language text’s purpose, his translation method and the translation’s likely readership; (3) a selective but representative detailed comparison of the translation with the original; (4) an evaluation of the translation— (a) in the translator’s terms, (b) in the critic’s terms; (5) where appropriate, an assessment of the likely place of the translation in the target language culture or discipline.
M. R. Nababan (2004: 61-62) proposed two instruments to assess the translation work’s quality. In the first place is accuracy rating instrument with scale 1-4 as described by following indicators:
14 Score Accuracy Indicator
1 The content of the ST is conveyed accurately to the TT. The sentences can be understood clearly. Rewriting is not needed.
2 The content of the ST is conveyed accurately to the TT. The sentences can be understood clearly, but a little restructuring and rewriting are needed.
3 The content of the ST is not conveyed accurately to the TT. Some problems related with diction, phrases, clauses, and other sentence elements. Some restructuring and rewriting are needed.
4 Some ST sentences are not translated into TT. Deliberately omitted.
The TT content is different from ST.
Table 1.1. Accuracy score and indicator (in Nababan, 2004: pp. 54-65)Besides, he also asses the translation quality assessment with the second instrument that is readability-rating instrument, He divided this instrument into 2 categories those are open and closed with the scale 1-4, which are: 1 (very readable), 2 (readable), 3 (less-readable), 4 (unreadable). The categories in range:
Score Range Category 1 1,00-1,50 Accurate 2 1,51-2,50 Quite accurate 3 2,51-3,50 Not accurate 4 3,51-4,00 Inaccurate
Table 2.1 The score and range of the category of accuracyThe benefit of the open categories is that the answer gained will be more accurate since the assessors are asked to give any reasons on every their assessment.
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7. Translating A Song as A Poem
Songs have close relationship with the poems. Sometimes song is said as the singing poem. The relationship appears as the poem that becomes a song or vice versa:
Many familiar poems began life as songs, but today, their tunes forgotten, they survive only in poetry anthologies. Shakespeare studded his plays with songs, and many of his contemporaries wrote verses to fit existing tunes. Some poets were themselves musicians (like Thomas Campion), and composed both words and music. (Kennedy 1999: 792) From the statement above, it is clear that song has some differences compared with the poems. When the song lost its tunes, it could become a poem.
But, when a poem is filled with some tunes, it could be a song like what Shakespeare did.
However, X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia in the book entitled Literature:
An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama states that:
In analysing song lyrics as poetry, it is important to separate the words temporarily from their music… …A song is no less powerful as song just because the words don’t stand on their own as poetry. A song is meant to be sung—transposing song lyrics onto the page changes their function. This exercise helps you understand lyrics as poetry, but do not scrutinize them unfairly relative to their original purpose. (Kennedy and Gioia, 1999: 806-807) from the statement above, it can be concluded that, although a song can be treated as a poetry, still, it has its own purpose—as a song that needs to be sung, not read. If a song is analyzed as poetry, the music should be removed and the researcher should only focus on the lyrics as pure poetry, not a song anymore. However, still, the song has its purpose, to be sung, not to be read. Therefore, after analysis with
16 poetry’s method, the song should be returned to its purpose and treated as a real song. For example, it needs to fulfill the metrical pattern of a song.
About the poems translation, Chan Wei Sin (2000:109) in her article Form
and Spirit in Poetry Translation stated:
It is imperative to realize that as far as poetry translation is concerned, form cannot be reproduced. But how about spirit? What do we mean by spiritual resemblance? And if spiritual resemblance can be achieved, how should we achieve it? The answers to these questions are hard to come by. But we can certainly achieve some degree of spiritual resemblance by paying attention to the reproduction of ideas rather than form. We must observe the way the ideas have been expressed and how they can be idiomatically and stylistically rendered in the target text.