You are on page 1of 7

THEORY OF TRANSLATION

METHODS AND IDEOLOGIES OF TRANSLATION






Ajeng Anindya Putrisanti F1F012063
Nuning Kurniati F1F012045
Ema Yonanda Sakanti F1F012071
Romario Gema P. F1F012067




ENGLISH AND LITERATURE
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL FACULTY
UNIVERSITY OF JENDRAL SOEDIRMAN
2014
Methods and Ideologies of Translation

1. Introduction
According to Wilss (1982: 3), translation is a transfer process which aims at the
transformation of a written SL (Source Language) text into an optimally equivalent TL
(Target Language) text, which requires the syntactic, the semantic and pragmatic
understanding and analytical processing of the SL. To translate a text from SL, the
translator needs to use method and ideology. There are some methods and ideologies
which can be used by the translator to translate SL text into TL text.
2. Methods of Translation
In Cambridge dictionary, method is particular way of doing something. In
translation, method means plan and systematic way of doing translation. A selection of
the method is needed with careful consideration of the target audience, type of text, and
the translation purpose. For example, when the translators want to translate text for the
children, they have to considerate to use method which will not difficult the target
audience.
According to Newmark in his book entitled A Textbook Translation (1988), there
are eight methods of translation which are categorized in two sections; the closest method
to the Source Language (SL) and the closest method to the Target Language (TL).
Newmark puts it in diargram V.
SL emphasis TL emphasis
Word-for-word translation Adaptation
Literal translation Free translation
Faithful translation Idiomatic translation
Semantic translation Communicative translation



Word-for-word Translation
The SL word order is preserved and the words translated by their most common
meaning, out of context. Cultural words are translated literally. The main use of this
method is either to understand the mechanics of the source language or to construe a
difficult text as pre-translation process.
For example: Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres. (Latin)
Become: Gallia is all divided in parts three. (English)
Literal Translation
The SL grammatical constructions are converted to their nearest TL equivalents but
the lexical items are again translated out of context.
For example: So che questo non va bene. (Italian)
Become: Know (I) that this not goes (it) well. (English)
Faithful Translation
A faithful Translation attempts to reproduce the precise contextual meaning of
the original within the constraints of the TL grammatical structures. It transfers
cultural words and preserves the degree of grammatical and lexical 'abnormality'
(deviation from SL norms) in the translation. It attempts to be completely faithful to the
intentions and the text-realisation of the SL writer.
For example: The word dog(English) is translated into Anjing in Indonesia.
Semantic Translation
Semantic translation is objective and neutral, only to translate naturally, is not adding,
reduce or repairing. It only changes the meaning and text force of source language to the
target language. Semantic translator should be considered element of esthetic text of
source language with compromise the meaning since in fittingness.
For example: He is a book-wormed (English)
Become: Dia adalah orang yang suka sekali membaca buku (Indonesia)
Book-wormed is translated flexibly appropriate with culture
context and functional restriction that accepted in target language.
The translator avoids using the idiom Kutu Buku in TL to
translate this sentence.
Free Translation
Free translation reproduces the matter without the manner, or the content without the
form of the original. Free Translation is the act of rendering the sense of a source
document, rather than slavishly dragging source words and word order into the translation.
Understanding of both cultures is also important in free translations. Fluency for target
readers is more important than fidelity.
For example: Translating a childrens book uses a certain vocabulary to make the
children understand the story.
Adaptation
In adaptation, the translator works on changing the content and the form of the ST
(Source Text) in a way that conforms to the rules of the language and culture in the TL
(Target Language) community. In general, this procedure is used as an effective way to
deal with culturally-bound words/expressions, metaphors and images in translation. That is,
the translator resorts to rewriting the SL text according to the characteristics of the TL text.
For example: She is innocent as an egg. (English)
Become: Elle est innocente comme un agneau. (France)
The example uses the term agneau (lamb) in France as a cultural
equivalent for the word egg, since the latter conveys a bad
connotation, which is imbecility.
Idiomatic Translation
Idiomatic translation reproduces the message of the source text but tend to distort
nuances of meaning by preferring colloquialisms and idioms. It is a question of whether
an idiom with a similar meaning is available in the target language. If the idiom in the
source language is different from the target language, but it has the same meaning, so the
translators use the idiom from the target language.
For example: Out of frying pan into the fire (English)
Become: Keluar dari mulut buaya masuk ke mulut singa (Indonesia)
Communicative Translation
Communicative translation attempts to render the exact contextual meaning of
the original in such a way that both content and language are readily acceptable
and comprehensible to the readership. In such cases the translator substitutes SL word
with an existing concept in target culture. In cultural substitution the propositional
meaning is not the same but it has similar impact on target reader.
For example: Beware of the dog (English) translated into Awas anjing galak (Indonesia)
Galak is the word that is used in TL (Indonesia), so the translators put it to
make it clearer for the reader even in SL, theres no word vicious to
express the word galak.
3. Ideologies of Translation
Ideology of translation is the set of principle which has to be considered by the
translators. According to Tymoczko (2003), the ideology of translation resides not
simply in the text translated, but in the voicing and stance of the translator, and in its
relevance to the receiving audience (pp. 18283).
Based on Venuti (1995), translation consists of two ideologies. They are:
a) The translator as a writer of the target text: Domestication
Domestication is a translators ideology when meaning is maintained. The translation
is disposed to the target language to be understood well. This ideology has purpose to
fulfill the readers need where they can read the translation smoothly. The point is
translation should be understandable, readable for the audience in target language. For
instance, the translators translate bilik from Indonesia into English as house.
b) The translator as a reader of the source text: Foreignization
Foreignization is a translators ideology where the cultural features from SL are
maintained. The translators translate the SL text by maintaining its cultural features. The
purpose of this ideology is to show the value of the SL, so the readers in TL can enrich
their knowledge by reading the text. For instance, instead of using kaus dalam, the
translators still use singlet for translating word from English to Indonesia.
4. Conclusion
Translation method is a way to do translate and based on Newmark, there are eight
methods which are written in diagram V form. Ideology of translation is set of
principle which helps translators to do the translating. According to Venuti, there are
two ideologies of translation, i.e. Domestication and Foreignization. However, the use
of method and Ideology depends on the translators purpose and style. Which method
and ideology that they use does not matter, the important thing is the message from
SL is understandable by the TL.


























BIBLIOGRAPHY

Newmark, Peter. A textbook of Translation. UK: Prentice Hall International Language
Teaching, 1988.
Venuti, L. The translators invisibility: A History of Translation. London/New York:
Routledge, 1995.
Cheshire. English Only : Literal Translation. Wordreference. 6 April 2007. 10 May 2014.
<http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=454512>
Moi, Say. Society and Culture: Faithful Translation. Yahoo Answer. 15 June 2008. 10 May
2014. <https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081112115046AAivNWD>
Izza, Laitul. Communicative and Semantic Translation. Blog. 1 December 2010. 10 May
2014. <http://lailatulizza.blogspot.com/2010/12/communicative-and-semantic-
translation.html>
Mizani, Samira. Cultural Translation. Translation Directory. 15 July 2013. 10 May 2014.
<http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1507.php>
Zakhir, Marouane. Translation Procedures. Translation Directory. 17 April 2013. 10 May
2014. <http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1704.php>
Eftekhari, Negar. A Brief Overview on Idiomatic Translation. Translation Directory. 15
August 2013. <http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1739.php>

You might also like