CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Background
The increasingly development of human civilization particularly in the aspect of language communication has made the whole world become a globe village and driven different tribes and tongues, countries and nations into a cultural identity competition. Here, cultures with aggressive owner communities endure, whereas other cultures with unaggressive owner communities disappear. Such a case is undergone by the Nias Maniamölö formerly culture Famatö Harimao and Huku Fondrakö that have become gradually extinct by the end of
18th century of the pressure of the western Christianity culture, and are not recently recognized by its community’s new generations.
Famatö Harimao is a ritual ceremony of fracturing the tiger statue; was
usually began with the renewal of Huku Fondrakö and then continued with the procession of carrying the statue on shoulders. It was conducted once in seven years by the five clans of Maniamölö communion (Hämmerle, 1986). Fondrakö is the community local ordinance that comprises of regulations which organize and safeguard the social life (the basic rights, obligations, commands, prohibitions, and punishments) of the Maniamölö community, e.g. hanata jifalele-lele ira matua ma ira alawe lahuku ya sageu bawi si’otu öri (those who speak abusive
Notwithstanding, in 1986, Hämmerle, a German-blood catholic pastor, who is also a cultural observer conducted a field research on this oral tradition for preservation and exoticism. In its source version, the research report is entitled ‘Famatö Harimao’, and in its Indonesian translation version, it was entitled Ritus Patung Harimau. As a culture transmission device, translation should denote
culture preservative device that ensures the existence of the source language (SL) particularity in the domination of the target language (TL) culture. This can be seen in the transferring or naturalisation of the SL terms in translation; e.g. the SL term Siharafia, the name of the local god’s angel (FH, 1986:151) is purely transferred in the translation text; the SL term Kundri, a small measure instrument of pig’s chest which is utilized as a standardized small measure instrument in pig trading (FH, 1986:160) is purely transferred with notes (Kundi115 = satuan ukuran lingkaran dada babi yang terkecil, RPH, 2010: 174).
However, in some cases, it is identified that some of the translation items are not proper translation for they ignore the local ideology awareness and exoticism, and lose the originality of the source text (ST). These are seen in the application of inappropriate translation procedures on the translation of the ST individual expressions, e.g: the SL term Sisagötö fa’ara me ma tumbua that refers to a grandeur designation of god Laŵalani as an everlasting god who has born into the world (FH, 1986:151) is replaced with an awkward and meaningless term Yang satu zaman telah lahir in the target text (TT) (RPH, 1986:164). The
equivalent term comprises of two main elements, first, subject element Yang satu zaman that literally means the one period, second, predicate element telah lahir
refer to a living creature’s birth. Thus, it is obvious that the predicate does not fit the subject, and the expression is awkwardly arranged, and expresses a semantically deviated meaning in the TL culture.
This phenomenon presents that translation is ideological, and the translator stands in between his preference toward two different language cultural contexts under which his translation work takes place (Venuti, 1995:18). Venuti pioneers two popular terms to refer to the opposite types of translation ideology:
A domesticating method, an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target-language cultural values, bringing the author back home, and a foreignizing method, an ethnodeviant pressure on those values to register the linguistic and cultural difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad (Venuti, 1995:20).
presenting particularity in the SL are transfered or accomodated in the translation text. Consequently, the existence of the SL elements in the translation text often becomes violation toward the TL system, and makes the translation text discordant and strange to the TL readers. Notwithstanding, apart from that weakness, this ideology has its own superiority because it stands as an etnodeviant strategy of ensuring the existence of the SL particularity in the domination of the TL culture.
As the translator’s strategy or approach employed, translation ideology has invisible nature that could not be discerned unless through the analysis of the more specific approach (applied in the translation) namely translation procedure. Translation procedure is the specific approach a translator applies in the translation of individual expressions for transferring the elements of meaning from the ST into the TT (Newmark, 1988:81).
political, social, legal, religious, artistic, and so forth); fifth, gestures and habits (Newmark, 1988:94-103).
Such phenomenon that confirms translation as an ideological work motivates to conduct study on ‘The Translation Ideology of Nias Cultural Terminology in Famatö Harimao into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau’.
It is considered that Famatö Harimao and its Indonesian translation entitled Ritus Patung Harimao have given valuable contributions to the preservation and
exoticism of the Maniamölö traditional culture, and in accordance, it is hoped that this study would be useful as it will not only evoke the sense of love and awareness of the local community toward their own culture, but will also add the exoticism of the Maniamölö traditional culture. It is also hoped to be that this study would be a contributive reference for: first, Nias language translators in improving their translation competence; second, translation beneficiaries to become more prudent in deciding to what type of orientation (TL or SL) will be appropriate for their translation need; means that, for the reason that this study provides detailed description that translation project is an obviously ideological work, so it provides easiness for them to negotiate with the translation servers to adapt their translation orientation to the beneficiaries’ need); third, the original author because it provides the way how the original text is translated. Last but not least, it is certained that this study would increase the researher’s translation knowledge and research experience.
In this study, the cultural category of the Nias cultural terms in Famatö Harimao into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau, the translation procedure
addition, minor review on: 1. Nias Maniamölö culture 2. concepts of translation 3. text and context in translation 4. translation as an analysis task 5. translation competence, and 6. relevant studies are going to be discussed further.
1.2 The Problems
This study is a translation product oriented, and is limited on analyzing the Nias cultural terms found in chapter IV (Huku Fondrakö and Famatö Harimao), in terms of the definition of: cultural category by Newmark (1998:94), translation procedure by Newmark (1998:81-114), and translation ideology by Venuti (1995:20). Accordingly, based on the above background, the underpinning problems are formulated as the following:
1. How is the cultural categorization of the Nias cultural terms in Famatö Harimao translated into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau?
2. How is the translation procedure applied on the translation of the Nias cultural terms in Famatö Harimao into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau?
1.3 The Objectives
In relation to the problems, it is obvious that this study is aimed at:
1. Describing the translation of the cultural categorization of the Nias cultural terms in Famatö Harimao into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau. 2. Describing the translation procedure applied on the translation of the Nias
cultural terms in Famatö Harimao into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau.
3. Identifying the tendency of the translation ideology in the translation of the Nias cultural terms in Famatö Harimao into Bahasa Indonesia Ritus Patung Harimau.
1.4 The Significances
An Indonesian proverb says mengairi sawah sendiri mengairi sawah orang which idiomatically means that no work has ever been done without effects
on the doer and other people. So is this study; it is going to be done in order to contribute theoretical and practical significances as mentioned below:
1.4.1 Theoretical significances
language cultures. It also provides understanding about context of translation that usually leads the application of the translation ideology and translation procedure in a translation work.
1.4.2 Practical significances
In practice, this study is going to serve as a reference that contributes the enlargement of the translation knowledge to the translation students, professional translators and those involved in the translation need. And as it deals with two language systems, it also serves as a helpful reference to the language scientists and bilingual teachers in applying the appropriate language teaching strategies based on the type and level of difficulties students encounter.
