Translation of Positive Emotion Words in Red Queen
on
https://ojs.unud.ac.id/index.php/linguistika/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24843/ling.2022.v29.i01.p09
LINGUISTIKA, MARET 2022
p-ISSN: 0854-9613 e-ISSN: 2656-6419
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Translation of Positive Emotion Words in Red Queen
1Kadek Gangga Utara, 2I Made Rajeg, 3Ida Ayu Made Puspani3 1,2,3Denpasar-Indonesia
email: 1[email protected], 2[email protected], 3[email protected]
Abstract--This study aims to identify and analyze the types of positive emotion and the technique of translation applied to translate the positive emotion words found in the novel Red queen. The method of collecting data in this study was conducted through a documentary method. Furthermore, descriptive qualitative method was applied for analyzing the data. The theories of category of emotions concept and technique of translation were used to analyze the data. There are three types of positive emotion found in the novel. Moreover, only four out of eighteen techniques of translation applied in the novel including literal, amplification, transposition, and particularization.
Keywords: positive emotion words; types of positive emotion; translation technique
Abstrak--Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi dan menganalisis jenis-jenis emosi positif dan teknik penerjemahan yang diterapkan untuk menerjemahkan kata emosi positif yang terdapat dalam novel Red Queen. Metode pengumpulan data dalam penelitian ini dilakukan melalui metode dokumenter. Selanjutnya, metode deskriptif kualitatif diterapkan untuk menganalisis data. Teori kategori konsep emosi dan teknik penerjemahan digunakan untuk menganalisis data. Ada tiga jenis emosi positif yang ditemukan dalam novel. Selain itu, hanya empat dari delapan belas teknik penerjemahan yang diterapkan dalam novel tersebut meliputi literal, amplifikasi, transposisi, dan partikularisasi.
Kata Kunci: kata emosi positif; jenis kata emosi positif; teknik penerjemahan
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A language is a tool fashioned by man in order to allow communication which involves the process of giving commands, asking questions, sharing information, and expressing feeling (Parikh, 2001). In the process of communication, the language structure when giving information or expressing ideas might be different if the communication occurs between people who speak different languages and have different background knowledge. Thus, translation played an important role in order to make the communication possible. Translation refers to an activity of transferring meaning from one language to another language (Catford, 1978). Catford (1978) also mentions that since translation is a dual act of communicating, it requires a sophisticated knowledge of both the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). Knowledge is a crucial thing since there are so many products of translation needed in everyday life. The purpose of translation is to transfer the concept of meaning of the SL into the TL text which is done by going from the form of the SL to the form of the TL byways of semantic structure.
Based on the statement in the first paragraph, language is also used to express feeling. In order to express feelings toward others, lexicons are very crucial since they have the ability to control and influence people. People can think what someone might think about something by considering the lexicon used, and it also shows someone’s feelings and the process of emotions. Emotion is a part of human beings that varies across languages and cultures (Desmet, 2012).
The label in expressing a particu1lar emotion in one language may not be matched in another language as ‘emotion lexicons’ of different languages sometimes show similarities as well as differences (Wierzbicka, 1999). According to Wierzbicka (1999), emotion lexicons reflect ‘the habit of heart’ and ‘the habit of the mind’ then the use of a certain lexicon that expresses emotion can be different from other cultures.
Masreng (2011) gave a good example for this issue. He explained that for expressing anger,
madness, and a feeling when someone is humiliated, the emotion word used by Kei Language (a language used in SouthEast Maluku, mainly in the island of Kei Besar and Kei Kecil) is ‘SOχ’ which means ‘rub’ or ‘grate’ in English. Emotions are affected by culture, because one culture may not label one mood state and have an extremely limited lexicon in stating emotion. English language is regarded as having a richer emotion lexicon, when those specific emotion lexicons are translated into Indonesian, which has more limited lexicons, change cannot be avoided even in the slightest features. For example, the English emotion lexicon distress in I couldn’t wake him to share my distress is translated into Saya tidak dapat membangunkan dia untuk berbagi kesedihan saya. Here, distress, a lexicon that contains emotion concepts, is translated into kesedihan in Indonesian language. Distress is regarded as having a specific meaning and its semantic features are more specific in explicating this emotion. Meanwhile, kesedihan is a more general term and the explanation of its semantic features will be different from distress (Dewi, 2012).
Translating emotion might be a very challenging process. It requires deep understanding from both source language and target language in order to transfer not only the meaning uttered in the source language but also the emotion and feeling intended in it. The translator must look for the closest equivalent between the lexicon from the source language text (SL) and the target language text (TL). The emotion concept expressed in the SL has to be transferred by using proper expression with the correct language system in the TL. There have to be proper techniques applied in the translation process of emotion. Since there are so many varieties of languages, the cultural background will affect the understanding of the emotion itself. The difference in cultural background will lead to misunderstanding in the different perspective of meaning. To deal with this issue, during the process of translation, the form could be changed yet the meaning is maintained in
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order to achieve clarity, accuracy, and natural translation product (Goddard and Wierzbicka, 1994). Hence, semantics plays a crucial role in translation, especially in finding the closest equivalence when translating the concept of meaning in one language.
As translation plays an important role in everyday life, translation products could be easily found. One of the translation products is novel. In Indonesia, for example, there are many English novels which have been translated into Indonesian and vice versa. Thus, it is very important to transfer not only form and meaning but also emotion so that the readers can have a similar perception and feeling when reading the translated novel. The readers’ response is expected to have similar value and similar emotive effect. On the other hand, sometimes the readers may have a different sense of emotion after reading the sourcelanguage novel and the translated one.
Because of the importance of transferring emotion in translation, the focus of this study will be on the translation of the English positive emotion lexicon in Red Queen by applying the natural semantic metalanguage approach (NSM) proposed by Wierzbicka (1996) and the techniques of translation proposed by Molina and Albir (2002). It will be done by classifying the emotion concepts which occur in the novel of Red Queen and its translation, explicating and comparing the semantic features of emotion lexicons in the source and target language, and analyzing the techniques used by the translator in translating the emotion concepts.
In order to observe the transfer of emotion in Red Queen into its translation, the data in this study were taken from the novel Red queen and its translation. All lexicons expressing the concept of positive emotions in the SL text (English) and its translation in the TL text (Indonesia) were noted and taken as the data to be analyzed. This novel was chosen as a data source because this is a popular novel, one of the best selling novels in
2019. There are many emotion concepts that will be specified into positive emotion concepts in this novel which fulfill the need for the data in this study.
The method of collecting data in this study was conducted through a documentary method. The relevant data in both novels, the lexicon containing emotion concepts were documented, and then sorted out and identified based on its classifications to point out the positive emotion concept which were the data source of this study based on the categories of emotions concept proposed by Wierzbicka (1996).
In analyzing the data, this study was based on the specified problems. The data were analyzed qualitative-descriptively. The sequence of the data analysis was first; the data were identified and classified based on the category of emotions concept proposed by Wierzbicka (1999) to find the types of positive emotion data. After that, some of the relevant data were chosen to represent the emotion concepts to be analyzed. Next, the data which had been classified were then analyzed based on the NSM theory in order to know the semantic features of the English emotion lexicon and its translation into Indonesia and translation techniques theory.
This chapter is concerned with the analysis of the translation of English positive emotion lexicon in Red Queen and its translation. The data were collected and analyzed through the theory of translation and the theory of NSM. The English lexicon which contains positive emotion concepts and their translation are analyzed according to the problems of the study, they are: the types of positive emotion concepts and technique of translation are found in Red Queen and its translation and how are the positive emotion words in the novel translated from the SL into the TL.
Data 1
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I like the reminder that even my hair knows life shouldn’t be this way (pg. 11)
The type of the word like in SL belong to admiration type since the words like expresses that the happy feeling about something. This type of positive emotion is used to express the feeling of liking something witnessed or felt by the experiencer. This positive emotion is a verb that represents interest, enjoyment, and pleasure about something. This emotion can not stand alone. This emotion has to be followed by noun that related to the event.
Data 2
That’s beautiful, Gee! (pg. 11)
The type of the data 2 belong to admiration type since the words beautiful expresses that the happy feeling or admiring about something seen by the experiencer. Beautiful is an adjective which contains the meaning of something really good. The word beautiful in the data 2 is the result of admiration, which is an utterance of compliment. It show that the experiencer really like the sight. This positive emotion lexicon is very neutral that can be followed with any other noun lexicon.
Data 3
Our teacher proudly told us that Norta was the light of the world, a nation made great by our technology and power. (pg. 16)
The word proudly belongs to pride type. It expresses the happy or really good feeling about something that happened to the experiencer. The word proudly is an adverb which derived from the word proud which tell the feeling of satisfaction and happiness. As the other adverbs, the word proudly has to be followed by the verb. This word represents how the feeling of the experiencer when doing certain activities is. This positive emotion usually used when something really good has already happened in the past and giving a good impact or good image to the experiencer. When expressing pride, the experiencer feel there is nothing better than what he/she thinks.
The analysis of semantic features of lexicons which expresses positive emotion concepts is presented in explication in the form of sentences (canonic sentences) in order to understand the cognitive scenario.
The translation technique used by translator in translating positive emotion is also analyzed by referring to the theory proposed by Molina and Albir (2002: 509). The following are the analysis of the semantic features of the English positive emotion lexicons and their translations through explication and explanation in the form of metalanguage showing the semantic features of each lexicon in each category which include its translation technique.
Data 1
SL
I like the reminder that even my hair knows life shouldn’t be this way (pg. 11)
TL
Aku senang dengan adanya pengingat bahwa bahkan rambutku pun menyadari kehidupan tidak seharusnya berjalan seperti ini. (pg.19)
In the source language, like in data 1 is a verb that represents a feeling of pleasure. A person will feel pleasure when something good happens and cause a lot of pleasure and enjoyment. It can be caused by something good which has happened unexpectedly. This happy feeling is considered to be the mixture of excitement and pleasure at the same time. It means that when a person feels “like” is “good” or “very good”. Then the explication of this lexicon is:
Like
X felt something because X thought something Sometimes a person thinks:
“I know now: something good happened
I didn’t know that this would happen”
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When this person thinks this, this person feels something good
X felt something like this because X thought something like this
According to the English-Indonesian dictionary like can be translated into suka or senang. In this case, the translator chooses senang to translate the lexicon like. Senang is a feeling when a person feels good because he/she experiences a good thing whether the good thing is happening now or already happened (without any specific time orientation). A person can experience senang when some good things happen but this feeling is just a short-lived state. In the data above, it can be known that some good things happened so the experiencer felt pleasure which was represented by words like. The explication of senang is:
Senang (X is senang)
This feeling happens because some good things happen
This may be felt in short time
X felt something (because X thought something)
Sometimes a person thinks: “some good things happen to me I want things like this to happen I can’t want anything else now” When this person thinks this, this person feels something good
X felt something like this because X thought something like this
The data 1 is categorized as “Something good happened” and related concepts. As described before, this positive emotion concept refers to “good events”. It covers the thought of “good things” that happened, are happening, or will/can happen. Based on the description above, it can be known that literal technique is applied by the translator when translating like into senang. By applying this technique, the information
of the emotion element of the SL translated word for word in the TL without adding or omitting any information about the SL word in the TL. This strategy only can be used when the translated word has the exact equivalence word in meaning among the source language and target language.
Nevertheless, the translator also has to look deeper to choose the most equivalent lexicon to be the translation. As shown in data 1, although the lexicon can be translated literally, the semantic structure was not able to be fully maintained. It is because the translator used senang which is not the top recommendation of the dictionary instead of suka. Senang has less similar semantic structure to like than suka, yet it is not match the naturalness of the target language if like in data 1 translated into suka. Hence, to maintain the naturalness of the translation, the translator uses literal technique with deeper consideration.
Data 2
SL TL
That’ s beautiful, Itu cantik sekali,
Gee! (pg. 11) Gee! (pg. 20
Beautiful is a feeling of admiration. A person will say beautiful when something good happens or appear and cause a lot of pleasure and enjoyment. It can be caused by something good which has happened unexpectedly. This happy feeling is considered to be the mixture of excitement, surprise and very pleased at the same time. It means that when a person feels something is beautiful it is not just “good” but “very good”. Then the explication of this lexicon is:
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Beautiful
X felt something because X thought something
Sometimes a person thinks:
“I know now: something very good happened I didn’t know that this would happen”
When this person thinks this, this person feels something very good X felt something like this
Because X thought something like this
Beautiful is transferred into cantik sekali by the translator in the data above. Cantik is a feeling when a person feels or sees something good while the word sekali is to emphasize that the person really like what is to be seen. In translating beautiful in this case, the translator increases the happy feeling and admiration of the experiencer. The explication of cantik sekali is:
Cantik sekali
This feeling happens because some very good things happen
X felt something (because X thought something)
Sometimes a person thinks:
“some very good things happen to me Some very good things happened to me I want things like this to happen
I don’t want anything else now I can’t want anything else now" When this person thinks this, this person feels something good X felt something like this
Amplification technique is applied by the translator when translating beauty into cantik sekali. This technique is used in order to introduce details that are not
formulated in the SL: information, explicative paraphrasing. By applying this technique, the information of the emotion element of the SL translated into TL with an addition of information. This strategy may not get equivalence in meaning of the translation, however it give a natural interpretation of meaning by the reader of the target language.
Data 3
SL
Our teacher proudly told us that Norta was
thelight of the world, a nation made great by our technology and power. (pg. 16)
Proudly which
TL
Guru kami dengan bangga memberitahukan
bahwa Norta
merupakan mercusuar dunia, sebuah Negara yang dimahsyurkan oleh teknologi dan
kekuatan. (pg. 30) derived from the word
proud with suffix -ly indicates happiness and enthusiasm. Wierzbicka (1999: 58)
states that this positive emotion does not imply anything contrary to the expectations especially on what is to be done or happen in the past. Thus, proudly can be explicated as follows:
Proud (X was proud)
X felt something because X thought something
Sometimes a person thinks:
“I know now: something very good happened to me
I think about the good things about someone or something Something good happened to
someone
I did something good”
When this person thinks this, this person feels something good
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X felt something like this
Because X thought something like this
In the data, the translation of proudly are dengan bangga. The suffix –ly is transferred into other word dengan which is the term in Bahasa Indonesia to adapt the grammatical case. The base word proud is translated into bangga. Bangga suggests a happy feeling. This positive emotion is used to express pride, happiness, contended, pleased,
comfortable and glad. The word bangga indicates something good has happened in the past and it produces a happy feeling. This positive emotion is less personal because one can feel bangga when something good happens to others. The explication of bangga is presented below:
Bangga
This feeling happens because something good happen
This may be felt in long time
X felt something (because X thought something)
Sometimes a person thinks: “something good happen I did something good Something good happened to someone”
When this person thinks this, this person feels something good
X felt something like this
Because X thought something like this
To translate the word proudly, the translator uses literal translation since the translation is based on the dictionary and also from the explication also there is no differences found between the words. The
only thing adjusted only the adjustment of affix that required dealing with the grammatical case. This technique is only can be use if both SL and TL have the words that have the exactly same explication.
Based on the analysis of the data
above, there are various types of positive emotion found in the novel included pride, joy, and satisfaction. The most type of positive emotion found in the novel is admiration type. In terms of translation technique, not all technique proposed by Molina and Albir found in the novel. The only technique found are literal, amplification, transposition, and particularization. The analysis also reveals that the translation of the positive emotion words in the novel is dominated by literal technique.
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