Comparative Analysis of Two Indonesian Translation Texts of Sydney Sheldon's 'Windmills of The Gods'.

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ABSTRACT

Teks terjemahan banyak dijumpai dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari. Perlu

kita sadari bahwa sebuah teks terjemahan sangatlah penting karena teks tersebut

berisi pesan dan informasi dari penulis dengan bahasa yang berbeda dari bahasa

kita. Jika kita ingin menjadi seorang penerjemah yang baik, kita perlu memahami

bahwa melalui sebuah teks terjemahan yang kita buat, banyak orang dapat

mengerti dan memahami dengan lebih baik dan jelas isi pesan dari penulis asli

teks tersebut. Oleh karena itu, sebuah teks terjemahan haruslah berisi inti pesan

atau gagasan yang sama dengan yang diberikan oleh penulis aslinya. Jika inti

pesan atau gagasan dalam teks terjemahan tidak sama dengan teks aslinya, berarti

kita sebagai seorang penerjemah tidak melakukan tugas kita dengan baik.

Dalam skripsi ini, saya melakukan perbandingan terhadap dua teks

terjemahan dalam bahasa Indonesia dari karya Sidney Sheldon yang berjudul

Windmills of the Gods. Teks terjemahan pertama berjudul Embusan Angin Surga

dan teks terjemahan kedua berjudul Kincir Angin Para Dewa. Kedua teks

terjemahan tersebut memiliki beberapa perbedaan dalam pemilihan kata, dan saya

ingin membandingkan keduanya untuk mendapatkan salah satu yang lebih

ekivalen dengan teks sumber. Ekivalensi kedua teks terjemahan ini saya dasarkan

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pada arti harafiah atau arti dalam kamus (referential meaning) dan juga arti sesuai

konteks (contextual meaning).

Hasil yang saya dapatkan dari perbandingan kedua teks terjemahan

tersebut adalah bahwa teks terjemahan pertama sedikit lebih baik daripada teks

terjemahan kedua. Sebenarnya kedua teks terjemahan tersebut sama-sama cukup

baik karena mengandung inti pesan atau gagasan yang kurang lebih sama dengan

teks asli. Dalam kedua teks terjemahan tersebut juga hanya terdapat sedikit

kesalahan teknis yang tidak lain hanyalah akibat faktor kecerobohan dan hal ini

tidak terlalu mempengaruhi inti pesan atau gagasan keseluruhan dari kedua teks

tersebut.

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APPENDICES

1. List of Mistranslated Words Found in TT1 Both in the Referential and Contextual Meanings.

No ST TT1

Referential Meaning

Contextual Meaning

x x

1 Harry Lantz is a

maverick. (p. 53)

Harry Lantz seorang

petualang. (p. 57) 2 It was more than two

weeks before Harry Lantz…. (p. 59)

Nyatanya diperlukan waktu lebih dari

seminggu bagi Harry Lantz.… (p. 62) 3 250 rolls of

confetti…. (p. 401)

Dua ratus gulung confetti.... (p. 201)

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7 I have some

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3 I’ll be there in half an

4. List of Mistranslated Words Found in TT2 in the Referential Meaning.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The topic of my thesis is “Comparative Analysis of Two Indonesian

Translation Texts of Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods”. The original

novel, the source text, is written in English, while both of the translation texts are

written in Indonesian. The first translation text is Embusan Angin Surga,

translated by Aranya Darih. It is published by Team Group. The second

translation text is Kincir Angin Para Dewa, translated by Irina M. Susetyo and

Widya Kirana. It is published by PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama.

I choose this particular topic because I think it important for us as English

learners to know more about translation. Translation is important because it

carries messages and information from other languages. Through translation,

people will understand clearly the message which is given by the writer from

another language. Thus, it is essential that the message be transferred to another

language containing exactly the same idea. Otherwise, there will be losses and

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gains in the content of the message if the translator does not transfer it

appropriately from the original novel or the source text.

Some possible problems occur when the target text, Indonesian, does not

have the equivalent word to the source text, English. For example, there is no

equivalent word in Indonesian to the word foot, which actually means ‘the

terminal part of the vertebrate leg upon which an individual stands’ (Webster’s

New Collegiate Dictionary, 1981:443). Indonesian people just generalize the word

foot and state it as kaki (Kamus Lengkap 7.500.000, 1991:68). Another word

which has the same translation as the word foot is leg. Leg is also translated as

kaki (Kamus Lengkap 7.500.000, 1991:95). Actually, leg has its own meaning,

which is ‘the part of the vertebrate limb between the knee and foot’ (Webster’s

New Collegiate Dictionary, 1981:650). Therefore, we can see that Indonesian

people tend to do the generalization to the things connected to feet.

Another possible problem occurs when there are several words in the

target text which can describe the word from the source text. For example, the

word female has several similar words in Indonesian such as wanita, perempuan,

and betina (Kamus Lengkap 7.500.000, 1991:66). In this case, what we need is

the right understanding of the context. As Zaky says, ‘A translator must, therefore,

look for a target-language utterance that has an equivalent communicative

function, regardless of its formal resemblance to original utterance as far as the

formal structure is concerned.’ <http://www.accurapid.com/journal/14theory

.htm>.

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Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods is translated into two versions in

Indonesian and both of them have some differences, especially in diction. The two

translation texts become different after I observe them by comparing the meanings

of the two translation texts to the source text through referential meaning, which is

supported by the contextual meaning.

In this thesis, I would like to observe the two translation texts more deeply

in order to know whether the meaning of the source text is lost or not. If the

meaning of the source text is lost, the translation text is not equivalent to the

source text and the readers may not know what the writer actually wants to say

through his or her novel. The ultimate goal of this research is to know which

translation text has fewer mistranslated words or which has the more equivalent

meaning to what is originally described by the writer. I hope my thesis can serve

as a model for translation learners in translating texts. I look for the more

equivalent translation text because in translating texts, a translator has several

options before deciding to use one word instead of another. He or she may look

for the word which has the closest meaning.

This research is significant for translators, translation teachers, and

translation learners. It is expected that they will get knowledge and they can see,

know, learn, and become aware that a translation text must be equivalent in

meaning to the original text both in the referential and in the contextual meanings.

Since a writer’s message is the most important element in a text, a translator must

translate it appropriately so that there will be no losses or gains of meaning.

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In doing the research, I use some translation and semantic theories.

Translation is ‘…an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text

in one language -the source text- and the production, in another language, of a

new, equivalent text -the target text, or translation.’ <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

/Translation>; while Semantics is ‘…the study of meaning.’ <http://en.wikipedia

.org/wiki/Semantics>. There are two types of meaning, namely the referential and

connotative meanings.

For my analysis, I am going to deal with just the referential meaning

without including the connotative meaning. Referential meaning, according to

Nida, ‘…(otherwise known as denotation) deals with the words as signs or

symbols.’ (cited from Hatim and Munday, 2004:35). Besides dealing with the

referential meaning theory, I am going to use the contextual meaning theory to get

the relation between the elements of the story. Based on Catford’s opinion, ‘The

contextual meaning of an item is the groupment of relevant situational features

with which it is related.’ (Catford, 1965:36).

Contextual meaning is also particularly used, for example, when there are

two possible words in the target text that can describe the word from the source

text, such as the word stoned which has two possible translations in the

Indonesian language, dilempari batu and mabuk (Kamus Lengkap 7.500.000,

1991:146). In this case, I use contextual meaning in getting the real message from

the writer, namely the person is drunk or the person is thrown by stones.

There is also another potential case concerning the two kinds of meaning,

the referential and contextual meanings; for example, when the source text states

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the phrase flower of the village and the Indonesian translator translates the phrase

into gadis tercantik di desa instead of kembang desa. Based on the componential

analysis, the phrase gadis tercantik di desa does not consist of the same

components as the source text, flower of the village, while the phrase kembang

desa has exactly the same components as the source text. Therefore, through the

referential analysis we know that the translator here is not accurate in translating

the phrase. But, when we see from the contextual meaning, the translation text is

not totally wrong because it has the same proposition as the source text. The

translator just wants to try another way in explaining the source text by stating the

phrase gadis tercantik di desa. The translator may think that if he does it in that

way, the readers can understand the text more easily.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1. What are the differences in diction between the two Indonesian translation

texts of Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods?

2. What words are mistranslated in the two Indonesian translation texts of

Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods in terms of referential and

contextual meanings?

3. Which translation text contains the more equivalent meaning to the source

text in terms of referential and contextual meanings?

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1.3 Purpose of the Study

1. To know what the differences in diction between the two Indonesian

translation texts of Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods are.

2. To know what words are mistranslated in the two Indonesian translation

texts of Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods in terms of referential

and contextual meanings.

3. To know which translation text contains the more equivalent meaning to

the source text in terms of referential and contextual meanings.

1.4 Method of Research

In gathering the data, first I read the two Indonesian translation texts of

Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods, which becomes Embusan Angin Surga,

translated by Aranya Darih and Kincir Angin Para Dewa, translated by Irina M.

Susetyo and Widya Kirana. Second, I list the differences in diction from the two

Indonesian translation texts. Third, I look for the mistranslated words in both of

them. Fourth, I analyze the mistranslated words in both of the two Indonesian

translation texts and also analyze their differences in diction to know which one

has the more equivalent meaning to the original text. In doing the analysis, I get

supporting references from books as well as the Internet. Finally, I write the

research report.

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1.5 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis consists of four chapters. Chapter One provides an introduction

to the subject matter in which it includes Background of the Study, Statement of

the Problem, Purpose of the Study, Method of Research, and Organization of the

Thesis. Chapter Two presents the theoretical framework underlying the topic of

the thesis. It elaborates some theories of translation as well as explaining the

things related to the novel as the core of the research. Chapter Three informs the

research findings and their analysis. This chapter presents the result of the data

analysis in order to answer the research questions. Chapter Four conveys some

conclusive points drawn from the previous chapters. This thesis ends with the

Bibliography and the Appendices.

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CHAPTER FOUR

CONCLUSION

Having discussed the comparison between the two Indonesian translation

texts of Sidney Sheldon’s Windmills of the Gods in the previous chapter, I would

like to make some concluding remarks.

As my research is to find out which one of the two translation texts has the

more equivalent meaning to the source text, I base the equivalency of meaning on

the correct meaning both in the referential and the contextual meanings. The

equivalent meaning is also taken from the acceptable contextual meaning,

although the referential meaning is not considered right. From my analysis in the

previous chapter, we see that TT1 has nineteen data which are equivalent to the

source text, while TT2 has just seventeen. The percentage of TT1’s equivalent

meaning is 86.36%, from the scale of 100%, while TT2 is just 77.27%. TT1 also

has fewer non-equivalent meanings both in the referential and contextual

meanings because it just has three data, while TT2 has five data. The percentage

of TT1’s non-equivalent meaning is 13.64%, from the scale of 100%, while TT2

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is 22.73%. The following table shows the final result of the equivalent and the

non-equivalent meanings both in TT1 and TT2.

Equivalent Referential Contextual Total Percentage

and Non-Equivalent Meaning Meaning Meaning

in TT1 and TT2

√ √ 12

TT1 x √ 7

x x 3 13.64%

√ √ 10

TT2 x √ 7

x x 5 22.73%

Based on the table above, I conclude that TT1 is more equivalent to ST

than TT2, although it is not too significant. Basically, the equivalency of TT1 and

TT2 are almost the same. The percentage of TT1’s equivalent meaning, 86.36%,

is much bigger than the percentage of TT1’s non-equivalent meaning, 13.64%. It

is almost the same case as TT2 because the percentage of TT2’s equivalent

meaning, 77.27%, is also much bigger than the percentage of TT2’s

non-equivalent meaning, 22.73%. Therefore, I also conclude that although TT2 is less

equivalent to ST than TT1, TT2 is still acceptable as a good translation.

In analyzing the data, I get two kinds of condition in which a translation is

considered acceptable. The first condition is when the meaning is correct both in

the referential and the contextual meanings, and the second condition is when the

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meaning is acceptable in the contextual meaning but it is not considered right in

the referential meaning. From here I see that the contextual meaning has to be

right in order that the translation can be equivalent to the source text. Therefore, I

conclude that contextual meaning has a bigger role in terms of equivalency than

the referential meaning. I do not mean to underestimate the referential meaning,

but in reality, many words have more than one referential meaning. Consequently,

we need a more specific measurement. If we only translate the referential

meaning, we are likely to mistranslate the word because it might relate to other

things, and it will also cause some misunderstanding about the whole text. What a

translator should do is interpret the context correctly as how the word is used in

the source text. In this case, the contextual meaning has its role.

Another potential mistake which can be made by a translator is when the

meaning is correct in the referential meaning but it is incorrect in the contextual

meaning. However, I do not find such data in the previous chapter. Therefore, I

see that the translators in both TT1 and TT2 are aware of thinking about the

contextual meaning. They have already considered the context of the text and they

can interpret it correctly.

Yet, there are a few data which show mistranslation which I think is

basically caused by human errors. The mistranslation of such words as maverick,

Commies, please, and commerce into petualang, orang-orang dungu, jangan lama-lama, and keuangan respectively shows that sometimes the translators interpret the context incorrectly because the meaning of the translations has no

relation with what is written in the source text.

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Besides, I find four data in which neither the referential nor the contextual

meanings are acceptable. I think there are several reasons which can be assumed

from those mistranslated words. First, it might be caused by the translators’

carelessness. A translator might misread some words because she does not pay

much attention to what is originally written in the source text or she might

mistype the translation. Therefore, they are unaware that they translate the text

incorrectly. Some examples of this case can be seen in the previous chapter,

namely in the second data in the mistranslated words found in TT1, which states

seminggu as the translation of the phrase two weeks from ST, and the third data, which states dua ratus as the translation of the word 250. There is also one data, the third data, in the mistranslated words found in TT2, which states seperempat jam as the translation of the phrase half an hour from ST. The second possible reason, which is still related to the first one, namely the inconsistency of the

translators when they translate a text, can be seen in the second data in the

mistranslated words found in TT2. The translators do not translate the phrase a million-dollar, the value of the reward, consistently. They translate it into

setengah juta dollar on page 76, but on page 93, the translation is sejuta dollar. Therefore, as a suggestion, when we translate a text, first, we must always

think that our translation has to be equivalent to the source text. Second, in giving

the equivalent meaning, we must see not only from the referential meaning but

also from the contextual meaning because the two types of meaning support each

other in building the understanding of the readers. However, the meaning is still

acceptable only when the contextual meaning is considered right, because the

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contextual meaning, as I have said earlier, has the bigger role in terms of

equivalency. Consequently, it is more effective in building the understanding of

the readers about the whole text.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

Catford, J.C. A Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Oxford University

Press, 1965.

Davies, Peter. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. New

York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1969.

Fahmi, Sadad. Kamus Lengkap 7.500.000. Surabaya: Karya Ilmu, 1991.

Hatim, B. and Munday, J. Translation: An Advanced Resources Book. New York:

Routledge, 2004.

Hurford, J. R. and Heasley, B. Semantics: A Course Book. New York: Cambridge

University Press, 1983.

Newmark, Peter. Approaches to Translation. Great Britain: British Library

Cataloguing, 1988.

Nida, E. A. and Taber, C. R. Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: Brill,

1969.

Walpole, Huge. The Nature of Words and Their Meanings. New York: Harvard

University, 1941.

Webster, Merriam. Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary. Massachusetts: G. & C.

Merriam Company, 1981.

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Zaky, Magdy M. Translation and Meaning. 2 March 2007

<http://www.accurapid.com/journal/14theory.htm>

Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia Edisi Ketiga. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka, 2005.

Semantics. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 5 June 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantics>

The Concept of Translation. 25 April 2006

<http://www.sil.org/translation/TrTheory.htm>

Translation. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 5 June 2006

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation>

PRIMARY TEXTS

Sheldon, Sidney. Windmills of the Gods. New York: Time Warner Book Group,

1987.

---, trans. Embusan Angin Surga. Team Group (no publication year).

---, trans. Kincir Angin Para Dewa. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1989.