Copyright©2012, ISBN: 978-602-19105-2-8
TRANSLATING “BUMI MANUSIA” NOVEL INTO ENGLISH:
SOME PROBLEMS IN USING FORMAL EQUIVALENCE AS A STRATEGY
Rebecca Urip
Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia rebekka.wattimena@gmail.com
Abstract
This study aimed to analyze how a translator applies formal equivalence approach as a strategy to achieve his translation purpose to remain faithful to the original text. In translating an Indonesian novel entitled “Bumi Manusia” into English, the translator who is an Australian, tried to keep authenticity of the source text by carried out his translation within framework of formal equivalence strategy. The result of the analyzing found out that the translator implemented the strategy in two ways: (1) by way of preserving the forms and contents of the source language in the target language and, (2) by preserving original words of the source language (SL). Evidently some problems were occurred in the form of un-natural expressions in the target language (TL), loss of meaning and even mis-translated the source language. When encountered by problems that lead into in-accuracy translations, a translator should look and shift his strategy into another translation approach.
Keywords: formal equivalence, translation strategy, and translation problems
Introduction
Choosing a strategy is very important aspect in the translation process because a translator will do his
translation from and within framework of this strategy. Initially, the decision of what strategy that a
translator will use is based on the particular purpose of his translation (Nida in Venuti, 2004, p. 127).
A translation strategy is usually routed by a particular theory that the translator chooses to enable him
to achieve his intention. Interestingly, Max Lane, the translator of Bumi Manusia novel into English,
specifically indicates the intention of his translation, which is stated in his note, that is to keep the
sovereignty of the author‟s language as much as possible and to fulfill this particular objective he uses
strategy of keeping faithful to the original text. (Ananta Tour, 1982. p. 12). The type of translation
strategy that enabling a translator to keep faithful to the SL is the formal equivalence approach as
formal equivalence tries to produce translation as the closest as possible to the original text (Nida in
Venuti, 2004, p.128).
Formal equivalence approach was pioneered by J.C. Catford in his formal correspondence
theory and E. Nida in his formal equivalence theory. These two theories are concerned in “making
the source and target text as closely equivalent in meaning as possible.” This approach focuses on
equivalences of the linguistic forms and systems between the SL text and TL text. (House, 2009, p.
17). It translates nouns to nouns, verbs to verbs and also try to keep the SL‟s sentence form in the TL
sentence.
This study attempted to firstly, finding out in what ways do the formal equivalence approach
as the translation strategy applied in the translation of this novel and, when applied, to what extend it
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There are a lot of previous discussions among the scholars on formal equivalence approach
and its ability to produce TL that is close to the SL (i.e. Catford, Nida, Munday, Hatim and Pym)
however there are only few discussions on the problems that can occur when applying this approach
and one of them is pointed out by Nida who indicates that in formal equivalence, linguistic and
cultural distance between the two languages may cause problems in translation. The more distance of
both languages the more it will create serious problems, for example translation from German to
Swedish has less problem than German to Arabic as German and Swedish belongs to same root of
Indo-European language while German and Arabic highly diverse in linguistic and culture. Nida also
argues that since there are no two identical languages so there will be no absolute equivalences in
translation in other words it is difficult to do fully exact translation (in Venutti, 2000, p. 130). This
study tried to investigate those types of problems that might arise when using the formal equivalence
approach. It is found out that, when using formal equivalence as a strategy to produce a faithful
translation to SL, possible problems in the shape un-natural expressions and meaningless string of
words in the TL can be occurred.
Translation Strategy and Formal Equivalence
Inghilleri (2009) defines the term „strategy‟ in translation as „the course of actions undertaken to
achieve a particular goal in an optimal way.‟ Achieving a particular goal is the key points of a
strategy and as such the translation process merely starts from the translator intention or purpose of
the type of translation he wants to produce (Newmark, 1988, p.12). The translator then looks for the
strategy that serves the purpose (Hatim in Munday, 2009, p. 40). A translator will make a plan on
what actions he would take to achieve his goal as much as possible on the basis of the available
translation theory as his strategy.
The purpose of the author and the purpose of the translator can make differences in translation
(Nida in Venuti, 2000, p. 127). Therefore, different purpose of the translator is able to produce
different type of translation product. For example when a translator‟s purpose is to produce
translation which is familiar with the audiences, the cultural-specific item or expression of SL will be
substitute to the TL cultural item or expression which is likely to produce similar impact to the reader
(Baker, 2008, p. 31).
It is a remarkable attempt of a translator to put a note concerning his translation intention as
did by the translator of “Bumi Manusia” novel into English in which he noted down his purpose of
his translation on producing a faithful translation to the original text. Newmark (1988, p. 46) argues
that any translation that attempts to be completely faithful to the intentions and the text-realization of
the SL writer can choose formal equivalence approach as his translation strategy because the “key
concepts of formal equivalence are the linguistics paradigm and the notion of equivalence” (Hatim,
The notion of equivalences in translation is the basic concept used by translation theories
during 1960-1970. The most familiar theorists who based their theories on the concept of equivalence
are J.C. Catford (1965) and Eugene Nida (1964) (Saldanha, 2009, p. 149). “Catford‟s formal
correspondence theory involves adhering closely to the linguistic form of the source text. It covers
formal relationship which exist when „a TL category can be found which occupies the “same” place in
the “economy” of the TL as given SL category occupies in the SL‟– e.g. translating and adjective by
an adjective” (Hatim, 2001, p. 15). Nida distinguishes equivalence approach in translation into two
different types, “formal” equivalence and “dynamic” equivalence. The formal equivalence focuses its
attention on the forms and contents equivalences between the two languages while the dynamic
equivalence focuses on the effect equivalences where the translator tries to relate the SL to the TL
behavior and culture and put attention only to the substance meaning of message.
Some scholars describe the theoretical framework of formal equivalence as the following:
1. It is basically source-oriented; that is, it is designed to reveal as much as possible the
form and content of the original message” (Nida in Venuti, 2000, p.134).
2. It is adhere so closely to the linguistics and cultural values of the source text (Venuti,
2004, p.122).
3. It is a relationship which involves purely „formal replacement of one word or phrase in
the SL by another in the TL‟ (Hatim and Munday, 2004, p. 40);
4. It is “keenly oriented towards the source text structure … to gain close access to the
language and customs of the source culture (Munday, 2008, p. 42).
There are several elements that formal equivalence translation attempts to reproduce:
a. grammatical units: by translating nouns by nouns, verbs by verb and keeping all phrases
and sentences and not readjusting the units and also preserving all formal indicators
(punctuation, paragraph breaks etc.)
b. consistency in word usage in terms of always renders a particular term in the SL by
corresponding term in the TL.
c. meanings in terms of the sources context; in this way formal equivalence translation
normally attempt not to make adjustments in idioms but reproduce at such that the reader
may able to perceive the SL local cultural elements in convey meanings.
(Nida in Venuti, 2000, p. 134-135)
As mentioned previously, formal equivalence approach is a suitable strategy for translation
that intends to be faithful to the source text however this strategy can create problems in producing
accurate translation in the TL as it is not easy to reproduce similar forms in TL that contain a precise
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The Study
This study analyzed and detected how the formal equivalence approach is applied as a strategy and
what problems it has created in the translation of an Indonesian novel into English.
Data Sources
The source of data was from two novels, an Indonesian novel entitled “Bumi Manusia” and it‟s
English translation version entitled “The Earth of a Mankind.” “Bumi Manusia”
The author is Pramoedya Ananta Toer, a strong socialist who spent most of his life in prison
because of his strong voiced articles and books on social ideology. He wrote this novel in 1975 in
Pulau Buru prison and this novel is the first of four „Roman Tetralogi Buru’series.
The novel was published in Jakarta by Lentera Dipantara in 2010 (first published was in
1980). It is a historical novel about psychological conflict of a native Javanese named Minke, who
had been raised up in the Javanese aristocracy value during the eighteenth century when Indonesia
was under the Dutch colonialism. He had a special privilege to attend a Dutch high school (HBS) that
had opened his eyes on wider global knowledge and information and also had taught him on western
values and culture. It happened that he had fallen in love with a half Dutch girl who was a daughter
of a concubine and a Dutch businessman. He had encountered a lot of cultural challenges on inferior
perception towards his relationship with this family. “The Earth of Mankind”
This English translation version of “Bumi Manusia” was translated by Max Lane, an
Australian citizen who was at that time the Second Secretary in Australian Embassy until recalled in
1981 because of his translation of Pramoedya Ananta Tour‟s novels. He wrote an Afterword section
in this novel describing the long history of struggling in publishing both Novels.
The two Novels were banned in 1981 Indonesia on accusation they were secretively spreading
Marxism-Leninism ideology. Penguin Books, USA, published this novel in 1996.
Data Collection
The data were collected manually from reading and reviewing both novels. Each chapter was
observed and compared in detail to find the style of the TL expressions used by the English translation
novel. Any un-matched, un-natural and mis-translating of the TL expressions were identified and
noted down.
Data Analysis
The data was first analyzed based on the formal equivalence framework whether the TL expressions
naturalness of the TL expressions were also used in analyzing data. The collected data then was
analyzed using the existing theories.
Results and Discussions
Preservations of the Source Language
Preservations of original features were found in translation of “Bumi Manusia” into “The Earth of
Mankind” in the forms of preserving SL forms and contents and also some SL original words in
which mostly were pronouns and heavy cultural content words. House considers formal equivalences
are ones that “seek to preserve as many features of the original as possible” (House, 2009, p.30).
SL Forms and Contents Preservation
The following are samples of this type of preservation that occurred in the novels:
SL: Orang memanggil aku, Minke, namaku sendiri …. (p.9)
TL: People called me Minke, my own name …. (p.15)
SL: Ia tersenyum, mengangguk padaku, berdiri kemudian juga pergi.
Pelayan membereskan meja. (p.42)
TL: She smiled, nodded to me, stood up then left too.
The servant cleared the table. (p.35)
This preservation is in accordance to Nida‟s explanation that formal equivalence translation
attempts to reproduce the SL grammatical units (in Venuti, 2000, p. 134). It was found that the
translator constantly applying this method in translating the novel except when he wrote the
Translator‟s Acknowledgement, Translator‟s Note and the Afterword sections then he changed his
writing style.
When reading the TL version of the novel, the reader will strongly excerpt the strong SL
forms, style and culture and not natural in TL. In comparison to when reading the translator in the
Translator‟s Acknowledgement, Translator‟s Note and the Afterword, the reader can distinguish
different writing style and detected natural TL expressions.
The translator‟s choice of using formal equivalence as his translation strategy has fulfilled his
intention to remain faithful to the original text since the TL version definitely reflected the SL version.
SL Original Words Preservation by Partial Translation
It was identified that the translator preserved some of SL original words such as SL pronouns of Nyai,
Sinyo, Babah, Ndoro, Raden Mas, Patih and also cultural dress such as Kebaya, Kain, Destar, Sarong,
Blangkon as well as terms as Indo, Priyaji . The translator then included a glossary to explain the
meaning of these words at the end of the novel. The following samples describe the translator‟s
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SL: “Sinyo,Minke,” Nyai merajuk, Annelies tak punya teman.” (p.68)
TL: “Sinyo,Minke,”Nyai confided, Annelies has no friend.” (p.50)
“Sinyo” is a typical pronoun to address a Caucasian or Eurasian young man or young master of the house (term used by servants) and “Nyai, is a mistress of an European or Chinese man (Stevens &
Schmidgall-Tellings, Indonesian-English Dictionary, 2010).
Catford (1965, p. 21) defines this method as partial translation where “some part or parts of
the SL text are left un-translated. They are simply transferred to and incorporated in the TL text …
for deliberate purpose of introducing „local color‟ into the TL text.” By preserving these pronouns the
translator tried to add a local color into his translated version.
Problematic Issues in Applying Formal Correspondence
As formal equivalence translation attempts to make the reader be able to perceive the SL local cultural
elements in convey meanings, the reproduction of the text will ingest the word as it is and this lead to
problems of inaccuracy in translation. This study identified some problems in the translation of the
novel when applying formal correspondence and found out that some un-natural expressions and
meaningless string of words in the TL were occurred. There are also some loss of meanings phrases
and mis-translated of idiom in the TL version. For instance, as formal equivalence translation
translate its units only such as matching the nouns to nouns and the verbs to verbs some sentences
have no meaning since such as buaya darat, which is an idiom, translated into crocodile on land.
Un-Natural Expressions of the TL
House (2009, p.30) affirmed, “the result of very close formal correspondence on translation might be
un-natural. The following are samples of the TL un-natural expressions in the novel:
SL: “Jadi kau mengerti bukan?” (p.230)
TL: “So you understand yes?” (p. 155)
SL: “Sana, pergi menghadap bundamu.” (p. 187)
TL: “There, go to your mother (p.126)
The TL expressions are not of natural English expressions. “Normally, the translator should
write within his own idiolect or his conception of the SL text author‟s, always provided the text
appear to be written naturally. The translator must not use a word or phrase that sound intuitively
unnatural or artificial for him.” (Newmark, 1981, p, 128-129)
Meaningless String of Words
Nida points out on possibility of occurrence of “relatively meaningless string of words” when
applying the formal equivalence as this approach “attempts to reproduce consistency in word usage.”
(in Venuti, 2000, p. 135) and this occurrence found in the examined novels as the samples below:
SL: “Lelaki, Gus, soalnya makan, entah daun entah daging. (p.189)
The „Who knows if leaves or meat?” which was translated word-by-word from the SL is meaningless.
It may be translated into “could be leaves or meat.”
Mis-Translation
The study has discovered mis-translation of idiom and phrases in this novel translation as the
following examples:
Idiom
SL: “Mana ada Jawa, dan bupati pula, bukan buaya darat?” (p.23)
TL: “What Javanese, even a bupati, is not but a crocodile on land? (p.23)
Buaya Darat is an Indonesian idiom that means, in accordance to Stevens and Schmidgall-Tellings
Indonesian-English Dictionary (2010), womanizer however the translator translated it into „crocodile
on land.‟ It is the fact that buaya means crocodile and darat means land however by joining these
two words together it makes an idiom. The reason of why a translator can be possibly mis-translated
an idiom is explained by Baker‟s (1992, p.65) arguments that “as far as idioms are concerned in
translation equivalence, the first difficulty that a translator comes across is being able to recognize
that she/he is dealing with an idiomatic expression. This is not always so obvious.” The translator
may be able to overlook that it is an idiom.
Phrase
Mis-translated of phrase were found as the following example. This was conversation between Minke
and the concubine when Minke tried to propose to marry her daughter.
SL: Minke: “Ma, bagaimana pendapat Mama kalau kami kawin?
Aku ceritakan tentang kesulitan yang menimpa usahaku mencari order.
Nyai: “Apa boleh buat, Nak, menyesal belum bisa meluluskan…. Aku harap kau bisa
mengerti.” (p. 430)
TL: Minke: “Mama, what do you think about the ideas of Annelies and me marrying?”
I told her about the troubles that had befallen my attempts to obtain orders.
Nyai: “What can we do, child?” Regrets don’t achieve anything….. I hope you can
understand.” (p.290)
The phrase of “Regrets don‟t achieve anything” was obviously mis-translated. It can be
translated into “regret I cannot permit it.” Nida points out that if phrases in the source language,
when translated literally into target language will become meaningless, the translator is obliged to
make adjustments in a dynamic equivalence translation (in Venuti, 2000, p. 139).
Conclusion
This study has described how formal equivalence can be used as the translation strategies to produce a
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contents as well as SL words in order to put authentic flavor of the source text. However this strategy
can create significant problems such as un-natural expressions of the TL, meaningless string of words
of the TL and even mis-translation of the TL expressions. When facing problems finding
equivalence words in the TL Hatim and Munday (2004, p. 43) argue that it is important for the
translator to modify his translation technique by making adjustment or “move away from form-by-
form renderings toward more dynamic kinds of equivalence.” The translator should be sensitive with
the un-usual expressions and try to shift to another approach as his strategy. In the case of a failed
strategy, the translation problem can be sent back to the intuitive workspace (Munday, 2008, p. 58).
References
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