Translating The Indonesian Metaphors and Similes in the Novel “Laskar Pelangi” into English
on
ISSN: 2302-920X
Jurnal Humanis, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unud
Vol 17.2 Nopember 2016: 195 - 202
Translating The Indonesian Metaphors and Similes in the Novel “Laskar Pelangi” into English
Nita Yuliana Andarini1*, Ni Ketut Alit Ida Setianingsih2, Ni Luh Putu Krisnawati3 123English Department Faculty Of Arts Udayana University 1[[email protected]] 2[[email protected]] 3[[email protected]]
Corresponding Author
Abstrak
Metafora dan simile adalah bagian dari bahasa kiasan yang biasanya dipakai dalam pecakapan sehari hari dan penulisan berbagai literatur. Dalam penerjemahan metafora dan simile yang dalam pemakaiannya dipengaruhi oleh kebudayaan bahasa setempat memiliki teknik khusus dalam proses pengalihan bahasanya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis jenis-jenis Metafora dan Simile serta strategi yang di gunakan dalam process penerjemahan Metafora dan Simile di novel Laskar Pelangi karya Andrea Hirata. Data dikumpulkan melalui proses membaca dan mencatat lalu membandingkan bahasa sumber dan bahasa terjemahannya. Metafora dan Simile dibagi menjadi dua jenis yaitu Dead dan Live. Dalam proces penerjemahan terdapat lima teknik yang dapat dipakai untuk menerjemahkan Metafora dan simile yang di usulkan oleh Larson(1968). Kelima teknik tersebut dapat di gunakan dalam penerjemahan metafora dan simile selama pesan yang ingin di sampaikan dari bahasa sumber dapat tersampaikan dengan baik dan benar sesuai dengan konteks dan situasinya.
Kata Kunci: Penerjemahan, metafora, simile.
Metaphor and simile which are a part of figurative language, often used in daily conversation and also literature. Metaphor and simile are used to compare two things. Metaphor is the comparing expression which uses the basic similarity of the first idea to the second idea implicitly. Simile is close to metaphor since it has the same function, that is, to compare things. However, simile compares something explicitly using the word “as” or “like”.
Every language usually has their own ways to use figurative language especially for metaphor and simile. This situation occurs because figurative language in general is influenced by the culture and social situation in which the language is spoken, For example, the metaphor such as “life is a fashion show” which becomes “hidup adalah
panggung sandiwara”; this sentence is not translated literally but it is translated by substituting the metaphor by a metaphor that has the same idea in SL.
In translation process, the difference of metaphor and simile form in each language could be a concern. In translating a translator needs to maintain the meanings that are transferred into the target language. Related to metaphor and simile, it is difficult to find the perfect equivalent meaning between two languages since every language has different culture; therefore, sometimes the translator should use words that are really different in lexical meaning. According to Larson through her book Meaning-Based Translation - A Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence, In general there are 2 kinds of translation; we can translate SL literally or we can translate SL idiomatically based on the concept that is supposed to be transferred.
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1. What metaphors and similes are found in the novel Laskar Pelangi and its translation in The Rainbow Troops?
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2. What techniques werre used to translate the metaphors and similes in Laskar Pelangi into English in The Rainbow Troops?
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1. To find out the metaphors and similes in Laskar Pelangi novel and its translation in The Rainbow Troops.
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2. To analyze the types of translation techniques used to express the metaphors and similes in Laskar Pelangi into English in The Rainbow Troops.
The data to support this writing were taken from the novel by Andrea Hirata entitled Laskar Pelangi. This novel is written in Indonesian language and translated into English language in 2013 The Rainbow Troops by Angie Kilbane; both of those novels were published by Bentang. This novel was chosen because it contains language that reflects
the Malayan culture and the author uses many metaphors and similes in it. It was also chosen in order to investigate how metaphors and similes in Indonesian language are translated, and how the translator transferred the meaning naturally into English.
The method of library research was used in collecting the data. There are several techniques that used to collect the data. First, the data werre collected by reading intensively and focused on the metaphors and similes used in Laskar Pelangi and underlined the expressions found in the novel. Furthermore, the words or phrases that are metaphors and similes found in the source language and their translation equivalents were written down using the note taking technique. Then, the data between the Source Language and the Target Language were compared.
In this study, the qualitative method was applied. The data were listed, classified and analyzed descriptively. After collecting the data by reading and identifying or listing the metaphors and similes found in the novel Laskar Pelangi and its translation into English The Rainbow Troops; the data were classified based on Larson’s theory about the type of translating figurative language. Then, the data already collected were analyzed by comparing and identifying the techniques used to translate the source language. The other theory was proposed by Nida (1975) about loss of information, gain of information in translation were also used as the supporting theory.
Metaphor and simile as proposed by Larson has two types; Live and Dead. (Larson.1998:274). Live metaphor and simile are the metaphor and simile that are understood after paying attention to the context of the comparison being used; for the dead metaphor and simile we did not have to look for the context. Here are some examples of the Metaphor and simile found in the novel Laskar Pelangi novel.
SL :Ia adalah penyeimbang perahu kelas kami (Hirata,2005:139)
TL :We now discovered that Mahar balanced out the ship of our school (Kilbane, 2013:121)
SL: Karena penamplan pak harfan agak seperti beruang madu, maka pertama kali kami melihatnya kami merasa takut. (Hirata,2005:21)
TL: Because Pak Harfan looked quite like a grizzly bear, we were scared the first time we saw him. (Kilbane, 2013:24)
In the examples above, the metaphorical word perahu or ship as a methaphor and Beruang as simile are usually used in daily conversation. Perahu is a common word that idiomatically refers to journey of life. The word beruang madu is used in order to illustrate how pak harfan looks like also automatically gives us the image of someone who looks big and scary. The image that comes into our mind when we read those figurative languages is not their primary meaning as ship and the grizzly bear but automatically the idiomatic meaning. Therefore, this metaphor and simile belong to dead metaphor and dead simile.
SL: Aku menghampiri kotak merpati saat ia menjulurkan kapur (Hirata,2005:251) TL: I approached the pigeon cage door. She slid her hand out. (Kilbane, 2013:205)
SL: Pria itu berpotongan seperti pohon cemara angin yang mati karena di sambar petir, hitam, meranggas, kurus, dan kaku (Hirata,2005:10)
TL:(He resembled a pine tree struck by lightning: black, withered, thin and stiff.) (Kilbane, 2013::10)
Kotak merpati which is translated into pigeon cage door above is the metaphorical image; however, the meaning of the metaphor is a little bit vague and so is the image of pohon cemara angin yang mati karena di sambar petir or a pine tree struck by lightning. In order to understand such metaphorical images, we have to identify the
context of the novel. This kind of metaphor and simile is made by the author itself and belongs to the live metaphor and live simile
Larson proposed 5 ways to translate Metaphor and 3 ways to translate simile (the techniques for simile start from number 3.3.3). The analysis is as follows.
SL: Agaknya selama turun temurun keluarga laki-laki cemara angin itu….(Hirata, 2005:11)
TL: Without a doubt, all previous generations of men from this pine tree man’s family…. (Kilbane, 2013:11)
As long as the meaning of metaphor could be delivered to receptor language, literal translation could be applied. This translation process is the example of metaphor to metaphor translation with the same image, in which lelaki pohon cemara is translated literally as pine tree man.
SL: Lintang adalah mercusuar. (Hirata, 2005:431)
TL: Lintang was like a lighthouse. (Kilbane, 2013:411)
Sometimes in translating metaphor the translator chooses to explicitly express the comparison and changes the metaphor into simile. In this example, the Indonesian metaphor which literally means Lintang is the flashlight was translated into lintang was like a flashlight.
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• Metaphor
SL: Kami adalah para duta besar yang berkuasa penuh selama musim hujan (Hirata, 2005:171)
TL: We were all-powerful VIPs during the rainy season. (Kilbane, 2013:140)
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• Simile
SL: Sekali lagi para pendukung kami berjingkat jingkat histeris seperti doger monyet. (Hirata, 2005: 382)
TL: Our supporters jumped around like dancing monkeys. (Kilbane, 2013: 317)
In order to achieve the equivalent and acceptable translation the translator should sometimes change the metaphor into the other form which still has the same meaning in the receptor language. The metaphor Duta Besar above is translated using the substitution technique. VIP has more broad meaning as it refers to someone who is really important; this word is usually used in daily conversation and sounds more natural. Then, for the simile, Doger monyet is a metaphorical image that is used to compare the act of the very happy supporter who are Lintang and his team.. Doger Monyet was translated into dancing monkey which is not the exact meaning but this word is the closest natural equivalent word. When this phrase was translated into Dancing Monkey it certainly loses some elements of the original word but it does not matter as long as it can express the meaning correctly to the reader.
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• Metaphors
SL: Hal ini sedikit banyak berhubungan dengan urusan cinta monyet. (Hirata, 2005: 251)
TL: My sudden change of heart more or less had to do with cinta monyet— monkey love, or puppy love. (Kilbane, 2013: 204)
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• Simile
SL: Rapor terakhir mereka memperlihatkan deretan angka merah seperti punggung dikerok . (Hirata, 2005: 402)
TL: Red numbers lined their report card like someone’s back had been dikerok—scraped by a coin as part of a traditional massage. (Kilbane, 2013:386)
The metaphor above cinta monyet also the simile that use the word Dikerok is quite difficult to translate and difficult to understand. Due to that reasons the translator put
some information by adding more information about the meaning of the metaphor itself. This additional information will help the reader to understand the word meaning of cinta monyet and dikerok easily.
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• Metaphor
SL: Tiba-tiba sekarang dua ekor tornado ini ingin bersekutu (Hirata, 2005: 356)
TL: now they wanted to be united (Kilbane, 2013: 281)
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• Simile
SL: Seorang perfeksionis berwajah seindah rembulan. (Hirata, 2005:74)
TL: He was a perfectionist with a most handsome face. (Kilbane, 2013:61)
Every language uses a different way to use a metaphor, sometimes a translator translates a metaphor into its meaning to make it easier to understand. The image dua ekor tornado that means two tornado tail was literally translated into they by the translator. But, the translator translated it by changing the metaphor into its non-metaphorical meaning they to avoid ambiguity. Also the simile, rembulan or moon when it is being translated, the translator decided not to keep the metaphorical image in English. She translated directly into the meaning a most handsome face to express the metaphor.
Metaphor and simile found in the novel Laskar Pelangi can be categorized into two groups; Dead and Live. Dead metaphor and dead simile are those which are a part of the idiomatic constructions of the lexicon of the language while Live Metaphor and live simile are those which are constructed on the spot by the author or speaker to teach or illustrate (Larson, 1998). Some metaphor and simile here have been discussed with the theory proposed by Larson about the technique of translating metaphor and simile. From 5 techniques mentioned by Larson; 1) The metaphor may be kept if the receptor language permits, 2) A metaphor may be translated as a Simile, 3) Substitution, 4) Meaning Explain, 5) Without keeping the imagery metaphor; the technique mostly used is by keeping the language if the receptor language permits it, all these techniques were
found in the translation of metaphors and similes in the novel Laskar Pelangi into its English version.
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