An Analysis of Compensation Techniques Regarding Translation
Loss and Captioning Guidelines
in Subtitle of “Merantau”
Film
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Education Department of the Faculty of Language and Arts Education of the Indonesia University of Education as Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree
by
Yanriski Stiasih
0808514
English Education Department
Faculty of Language and Arts Education
AN ANALYSIS OF COMPENSATION TECHNIQUES
REGARDING TRANSLATION LOSS AND
CAPTIONING GUIDELINES IN SUBTITLE OF
“MERANTAU”
Oleh Yanriski Stiasih
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Yanriski Stiasih 2013 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Juni 2013
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
PAGE OF APPROVAL
An Analysis of Compensation Techniques
Regarding Translation Loss and Captioning Guidelines
In Subtitle of “Merantau”
By
Yanriski Stiasih 0808514 Approved by
Main Supervisor, Second Supervisor,
Drs. Ahsin Mohammad, M.Ag. Susi Septaviana, S.Pd.,M.Pd
NIP.19540817189031002 NIP.197609042009122002
The Head of English Education Department Faculty of Language and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education
ABSTRACT
The study entitled An Analysis of Compensation Techniques Regarding Translation Loss and Captioning Guidelines in the Subtitle of “Merantau” focuses on the translation and captioning techniques which are applied in English Subtitle of “Merantau” film. Qualitative descriptive method is used in this study to uncover the findings using Hervey and Higgins’ (1992) concept of
Table of Contents
STATEMENT ... i
PREFACE ... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... iii
ABSTRACT ... v
CONTENTS ... vi
LIST OF TABLES ... ix
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ... 1
1.2 Statement of Problem ... 4
1.3 Aims of the Study ... 4
1.4 Scope of the Study ... 4
1.5 Significance of the Study ... 5
1.6 Research Methodology ... 5
1.6.1 Research Design ... 5
1.6.2 Data Collection... 5
1.6.3 Data Analysis ... 6
1.7 Data Resources ... 6
1.8 Clarification of Terms ... 6
2.1 Translation Theory ... 9
2.1.1 Definition of Translation ... 9
2.1.2 The Translation Process ... 10
2.2 Translation Method and Procedures ... 11
2.2.1 Translation Method ... 11
2.2.2 Translation Procedure ... 12
2.2.3 Audiovisual Translation ... 13
2.3 Subtitle Theory ... 14
2.3.1 Definition of Subtitling and Subtitle ... 14
2.3.2 Subtitling (Captioning) Process ... 16
2.3.3 Subtitling Strategy ... 19
2.4 Translation Loss and Compensation Techniques... 20
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 25
3.1 Research Design ... 25
3.2 Research Questions ... 26
3.3 Data Resources ... 27
3.3.1 “Merantau” Film’s Origin ... 27
3.3.2 Movie Script ... 27
3.4 Data Collecting Procedures ... 28
3.5 Technique of Analysis ... 29
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ... 31
4.1 Findings ... 31
4.1.1 Compensation Techniques Categories and Analysis ... 32
4.1.3 Captioning Guidelines ... 44
4.2 Discussions ... 47
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 49
5.1 Conclusions ... 49
5.2 Suggestions ... 51
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 52
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1 ... 33
Table 4.2 ... 36
Table 4.3 ... 39
1
movie can be released beyond the country where the movie was made, it can
be in other countries that have language diversities. Bannon (2009) states that
movies are pop culture and the translator is a part of the entertainment
business. Therefore, translation plays an important role in film industry.
Translation in film industry assists the audience in understanding the
movie. It attempts to convey the message from the movie without losing any
of contents even there was a language transfer. The target audience may not
know the language at all, however they expect for a sense of the originals
from the movie.
This study aims to explore translation studies and its disciplines that are
necessary in movie industry. The study of translation has developed during
the screen translation has emerged as the new area. Moreover, the films
which come from the countries around the world, especially from Hollywood,
are interesting to get a lot of audience from the other countries. Film industry
in Indonesia also has developed as well. In current time, Indonesian films
have reached the international level. Then the film industries would need the
2
The translation of film consists of two major types; dubbing and
subtitling. According to Coelho (2003), subtitle can be defined as the process
of providing synchronised captions for film and television dialogue (and more
recently for live opera); while dubbing refers to any technique of covering the
original voice in an audio-visual production by another voice.
Subtitle is purposed to help the audience in conceiving the message of
films. A good subtitle is able to make the audience unaware that they read
the subtitle underneath the screen. The subtitle also should not be read as
translation, and then the subtitle is a sort of a message carrier of the films.
The film translators should give the target audience the experience they
would have if already knew the foreign language. However, the translators
must put their knowledge and competence in their translation. The translator
must find a way to express the meaning of the source text in an acceptable
and stylistically correct in the target text.
The process of translation such as adjusting, omiting, or even rewriting
the script based on the translator‟s skill and competence in „converting‟ the
source text into the target text. The translation invokes the intelligence,
sensitivity, ingenuity and intution as well as the translator‟s knowledge.
These aspects allow the translator to have their own authority in translating,
and it will affect the quality of translation.
In subtitling, the translator begins with the source which comes from
oral source text and its transcript, and the translator transforms it into a
written target text. Subtitling challenges the translator‟s skill and competence
3
into the screen may not too long to be read by the audience, therefore the
titles must be designed for ease reading. The translated texts has its portion to
fit in the subtitle, therefore the captioning guidelines are proposed
(Karamitroglou, 1998).
Subtitle is placed at the lower part of the screen, it should cover the area
without decreasing the aesthetical aspects from the film. So, the text has to be
condensed and brief. Merging the text is one of captioning guidelines that
probably causes translation loss in the subtitle. Translation losses raise a
problem for the translator, it may sacrifice some certain features. Therefore,
the concept of compensation occurs to solve the problem of translation loss.
Hervey & Higgins (1992) distinguish four different aspects of
compensation: compensation in kind; compensation by merging;
compensation by splitting; and compensation in place. In this study, the
researcher will focus on Hervey & Higgins (1992) concept of compensation
technique in translation. Translator encounters special problem regarding
captioning which probably raise the translation losses issue.
Captioning leads the translator to arrange the appearance of the subtitle
in purpose of the text is not too long to be read, however they must retain the
sacrifices the quality of translation. Translators themselves are responsible for
applying the best translation techniques and solutions.
The translation techniques are very interesting to be studied because
of the connection between the film industry and the translation studies. The
4
subtitle is very interesting to be analyzed, since it uses a lot of terms in the
target language to compensate the source language terms.
1.2 Statement of Problem
In subtitling, the guidelines for captioning are essential in purpose of
the dense and brief translation. These guidelines lead the translator to arrange
the subtitle to be condensed and result translation loss. It is a challenge for the
translator and forcing their ingenuity to retain the sacrifices of certain features
in translation.
1.3Aims of the Study
1. To find out the compensation techniques applied in the subtitle of
“Merantau”.
2. To find out the occurrence of translation loss in the subtitled text.
3. To find out the subtitle‟s captioning guidelines fulfillment.
1.4Scope of the Study
In this study, the researcher focuses on analyzing the data of
“Merantau” script, which is translated into English. This study is conducted to
find out the compensation techniques by using Hervey & Higgins (1992)
concept of compensation and part of the script where the translation loss
probably occurred. The captioning guidelines fulfillment was uncovered by
5
1.5Significance of the Study
This study aims to find out compensation techniques applied in
subtitling the film. The researcher hopes this study will expand students‟
knowledge about translation. It is also expected to bring some benefits to the
students who are interested in studying the translation disciplines in
connection to film industry.
1.6Research Methodology
1.6.1 Research Design
This study employed qualitative approach in examining the data.
Then, the collected data were analyzed by using descriptive method.
This study focuses on compensation technique that applied in the
English subtitle of “Merantau”.
1.6.2 Data Collection
In conducting the study, the researcher uses the data which were taken
from the original script of “Merantau” and the translated one. The data
were also taken from the original movie script from the internet and
compare it with English subtitle. The data were analyzed by
employing compensation techniques. The researcher conducted library
6
1.6.3 Data Analysis
The collected data were analyzed by using Hervey & Higgins‟ (1992)
compensation concept. The process of analysis consists of several
steps, as follows:
1. Arranging the subtitle text next to the movie script dialogue by
dialogue
2. Finding out the compensation techniques applied in certain
dialogues by using Hervey & Higgins‟ (1992) compensation
technique as the data findings.
3. Classifying and finding the techniques applied.
4. Finding the part of the script where the translation loss mostly
occurred.
5. Observing the text appeared on the screen regarding the guidelines
for captioning.
1.7 Data Resources
The data of the study were taken from the original DVD of film
“Merantau”. Original movie script and subtitle script are taken from the
internet.
1.8 Clarification of Terms
Subtitle : A translated dialogue that is transferred into written text, and it is
7
Subtitling : The process of transferring the source language film or television
into target language in written text which appears underneath the screen.
Captioning: The text version of speech and other sound that can be provided
on television, DVD, cinema, etc. It is usually displayed on the bottom of a
video screen.
1.8Organization of the Paper
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides background of the study, research questions, aims of the
research, scope of the research, significance of the research, clarification of the
terms, and the organization of the terms.
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FOUNDATION
This chapter provides the theoretical background of the study. This chapter also
aims to explain the relevant theories of study namely translation. The
organization of this chapter is started with the definition of translation, its
method and procedure. This chapter also explains the definition of subtitle, its
process and strategies. At the last part, this section describes the translation loss
and also Hervey & Higgins‟ compensation technique.
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of the research methodology used in conducting the
study. This section contains research design, research questions, data collecting
8
CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter presents and discusses the collected data and includes the data
analysis. This study aims to find out the translation techniques employed in the
“Merantau” by focusing on Hervey & Higgins concept of compensation. This
study also examines certain translated sentences which are suspected as
translation losses.
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This last chapter contains the interpretation toward the result of the study in a
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter consists of the research methodology employed in conducting
the study. This section contains research design, research questions, data
collecting and technique of analysis.
3.1 Research Design
This study employed qualitative and descriptive method in analyzing data.
This study also aimed to explore and identify the data to get the actual
explanation.
Berg asserts that “qualitative research thus refers to the meanings,
concepts, definitions, characteristics, metaphors, symbol and description of
things” (2007; p.3). In conducting qualitative study, the data were taken from the
actual settings. However, qualitative data is very extremely varied in nature.
Denzin and Lincoln (2000; p.3) state that
This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them
Qualitative data is very various; it includes the information from many
sources and can be collected from several methods. The qualitative data can be
collected through interview, direct observation and written documents. These
selected methods are influenced by the theoretical orientation.
information are interpreted to establish the meaningful perspective. This
„meaningful perspective‟ is essential in qualitative research. However, whatever
the result from the derived data, this study would not do any attempt to control its
subjects.
Descriptive method involved gathering data that describe events and then
organizes, tabulates, depicts, and describes the data.
3.2 Research Questions
The study is aimed to answer the research questions as follows:
1. What kinds of compensation techniques are applied in the subtitle of
2. Which part of the script that contained translation loss?
3. Based on captioning (text positioning) guidelines, does the subtitle fulfill
the standards?
3.3Data Resources
The main data of this study was taken from the original DVD of film
“Merantau”. The original movie script was taken from the internet.
3.3.1 “Merantau” Film’s Origin
“Merantau”, released in 2009, is an Indonesian action drama film which is
directed by Gareth Evans. The film also received awards as the honorable
mention and best action film at Fantastic Festival 2009 and Action Festival 2010.
The subtitle was translated into more than 5 languages, including English.
The story begins when Yuda, a skilled practitioner of Silat Harimau, is in
his journey namely “Merantau”. Merantau is a Minangkabau (West Sumatra)
tradition where young men will leave their family in village and make a living in
Jakarta. After Yuda arrived in Jakarta, he faces a series of problem—being a
homeless and uncertain about his future.
He encounters a huge trouble when he tries defending the orphans named
Astri and her younger brother Adit from a European human trafficking. The
situation forces him to keep on surviving with his Silat‟s skill. The film was
The original movie script of this film which is written in Bahasa Indonesia
was taken from the internet. The English subtitle was taken from the internet
www.subscene.com , and it is exactly similiar with the subtitle in the original
DVD.
3.4 Data Collecting Procedures
In conducting the study, some techniques of collecting data were used as follows:
1. Watching the film “Merantau”
Watching film “Merantau” for several times was done to get a connection
between the actual dialogue and the subtitle. It is a first step before
classifying and analyzing the compensation techniques.
2. Searching for original movie script
The movie script is originally written in Bahasa Indonesia. Searching the
original movie script is not as easy as searching the English subtitle.
However, the original movie script was found from the blog
http://intan.blog.ugm.ac.id/2012/07/23/ini-adalah-kisah-merantau/.
3. Reading and Comparing the original script and the English subtitle
Since this study attempted to identify the compensation technique
employed in the subtitle, reading and comparing the two scripts were
done; the original and the translated one.
4. Classifying and analyzing the data
After comparing the English subtitle with the original script, the data were
translation. 51 items of data were found and they belong to the categories
of compensation technique. The data were categorized according to each
compensation technique that is applied.
The texts which are suspected as translation loss were also classified. This
study also attempted to observe the technical process in text positioning
(captioning).
5. Observing the appeared text on the screen.
A series of sample pictures of the screen were attached to be observed.
3.5 Technique of Analysis
After collecting data, the data were analyzed according to the procedures.
The data were classified and analyzed based on Hervey & Higgins (1992) concept
of compensation: compensation in kind; compensation by merging; compensation
by splitting and compensation in place. The presented data were classified into
each category of compensation techniques. The guidelines for text positioning
(captioning) devised by Karamitroglou (1998) were employed to observe the
subtitled text which appears on the screen.
In this study, the steps of identifying and analyzing data were as follow:
1. The English subtitle is placed next to the original movie script. For
example:
Sebuah ujian dan pendidikan jasmani
rohani terakhir untuk membuktikan
pengetahuan dan keandalan di muka
It's a learning curve against
one's strength and spiritualism.
his knowledge of the worldly ways.
2. Certain sentences or dialogues which contained compensation techniques
were identified and analyzed according to Hervey & Higgins‟ (1992)
concept of compensation. Those sentences or dialogues were categorized
into each compensation technique.
For example:
Compensation by Merging
Original Script English Subtitle
Kamu sadarkanlah kepalamu itu dari
mimpi2 belaka kamu sadarkanlah
kepalamu itu dari mimpi2 belaka.
Get rid of those dreams in your
head
3. The sentences or dialogues in the subtitle which are suspected as
translation loss will be classified.
4. The pictures of screen were also attached in order to observe the text
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This chapter draws the conclusion and suggestion of the study. The
conclusions are created based on the findings and discussion from the previous
session. The suggestion provides some guidance and opinion from the researcher
for those who are interested in the study namely translation related to film
industry.
5.1 Conclusions
Translation plays an important role in film industry, it assists foreigner
audience in understanding the movie. The globalization takes the movie around
the world, thus makes the subtitle translator as part of entertainment business. In
subtitling, the translator is allowed to apply the best techniques and solutions. This
study has investigated the Hervey & Higgins’ (1992) compensation technique
applied in “Merantau” subtitle. Compensation techniques are distinguished into
four aspects, compensation in kind; compensation in place; compensation by
merging and compensation by splitting.
Based on the analyzed data, the conclusions can be drawn that three
aspects of compensation techniques were applied in translating subtitle
“Merantau”. They were compensation in kind; compensation by merging and
compensation by splitting.
Compensation is a technique for making up the loss in translation. The
that is mostly applied by the translator is compensation in kind. The use of this
technique is despite of the translator might find the equal expression in target
language that is more acceptable. Although the translation loss is found in the
subtitle of “Merantau” film, the translator has made the best decision by applying
his/ her own strategy whether he/ she has to remove and add the contents.
Based on the standard of captioning, “Merantau” subtitle has fulfilled the
standards proposed by Karamitroglou (1998). The subtitle in film “Merantau” is
positioned at the lower part of the screen. Thus, the texts cover the area which is
less important without decreasing general aesthetic appreciation of the target film.
After conducting this study, the researcher finally realized that the roles of
translator in subtitling film was not as simply as just transferring words into other
languages. It requires the understanding and translator’s ingenuity in employing
the techniques. In subtitling, the technical process such as captioning is also
5.2 Suggestions
The researcher hopes this study will expand students’ knowledge about
translation. It is also expected to bring some benefits to the students who are
interesting in studying the translation discipline in connection to film industry.
Ultimately, a subtitle translator is part the entertainment business.
The area of translation study has developed, moreover in this era of
globalization where the skill of mastering other languages is required. The various
strategies, procedures and techniques of translating were proposed. Translator
plays the role as decision-making in employing those strategies, etc. Therefore,
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