DOMESTICATION AND FOREIGNIZATION AND THEIR IMPACTS TO TRANSLATION

Johnny Prasetyo Andy Bayu Nugroho Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Surakarta

ABSTRACT There are four problems in translating a text. The first and main problem is the language factor. The second problem is a social one, the third is the problem that has something to do with religion or belief, and the fourth one is the cultural problem. In short, the problems have a close relation to the language and culture. So, a translator should have a good mastery of the two languages, namely, the source language and the target one. This article discusses the problems of translation having to do with culture and its impacts to translation. The strategy of a translator to overcome the problems is determined by his/her ideology: domestication or foreignization.

Key words: domestication, foreignization, translation impact

INTRODUCTION Translating is an activity involving at A language is the cultural and personal least two languages. To translate, expression of the speaker so that the however, is not an easy task to do language influences how the speaker because we do not simply transform the perceives the world. The fact has a great meaning of a word into another meaning in influence on translating activities. the same order. Translating in such a way According to Hariyanto, “If language cannot be done because “languages are influences thought and culture, it means not nomenclatures and the concepts of that ultimate translation is impossible”. one language my differ radically from those However, Chomsky’s opinion concerning of another” (Culler in Ordudary, 2007). The “deep structure” and “surface structure” greater a gap between the source expresses the reverse. It is possible for us language and the target one, the more to do translation although there are many difficult it is for us to translate. obstacles we have to overcome. Nida and Another factor that makes translating a Taber (1982:4) encourage translators to brain racking activity is the cultural factor. continue translating by saying: “anything Regardless of the dispute that language is that can be said in one language can be a part of culture or the reverse, translation said in another, unless the form is an has something to do with two aspects. essential element of the message”. Both aspects relate to and influence one another. “Bahasa maupun kebudayaan

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 1 merupakan hasil dari pikiran manusia Southeast Asia by emphasizing that it sehingga ada hubungan korelasi di antara “whitens your teeth.” They found out that keduanya” (Sutrisno, 2005:13-4). Parallel the local natives chew betel nuts to to the statement, Lotman (1978:211-32 in blacken their teeth which they find James) said that “no language can exist attractive. unless it is steeped in the context of Cronin (2006) adds that, according to culture; and no culture can exist which Agleton, the foundation of the world is does not have at its centre, the structure of culture, not god or Nature. He goes on natural language”. saying that: Based on the discussion above, one “The promotion of culture as a primary translating one language into another will concept is indeed implied in translation have many obstacles if the translator does studies itself in the ‘cultural turn’ the not have enough knowledge of the culture discipline took in the late 1970s and of the language. Translators are 1980s. where the use of ‘culture’ permanently faced with the problem of how becomes problematic is not so much in to treat the cultural aspects implicit in a whether we intend the term in an source text (ST), and of finding the most anthropological (what humans do in appropriate technique of successfully their daily lives) or an aesthetic sense conveying these aspects in the target (what humans do in the realm of language (TL). To illustrate this we have creative expression) but in how provided a few examples. cultures have come to understand The first example is that “Malinowski culture.” gagal menerjemahkan bahasa Kiriwian ke dalam bahasa Inggris karena ia hanya This paper will deal with the relation membawa data-data kebahasaan tanpa between culture and translation, their data-data cultural dan sosialnya” (Santoso, problem and impacts. 2003:14). Two other occurrences that can be CULTURE AND TRANSLATION used as an example are dealing with There are many translation experts but advertisements. A company advertised their definitions of translation are different eyeglasses in Thailand by featuring a from one another. Despite the variety of cute animals wearing glasses. completeness or incompleteness of the The ad was a poor choice since animals definitions they have made, they did not are considered to be a form of low life and take culture into consideration in making no self respecting Thai would wear the definitions. Take a look at the following anything worn by animals (Payne). definitions: Pepsodent tried to sell its toothpaste in

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Catford (1965:20) stated that language message, fist in term of meaning “translation is the replacement of textual and secondly in terms of style”. material in one language by equivalent It is true that the definition does not textual material in another language”. In allude to culture explicitly but based on the this definition, “equivalent textual material” explanation on the phrase “closest natural is thought as something important although equivalent” we can conclude that culture what is meant by “equivalent” has not been has been taken into consideration clear yet. Something clear and real in the (Hariyanto). The concept of “closest definition is that it does not allude to natural equivalent” comes from Nida’s culture at all. concept of dynamic equivalent. The Another expert of translation making a example he gave was the phrase “Lamb of definition of translation is Newmark God” taken from Bible, which was (1988:5). According to him: “it is rendering translated into Eskimo language. The word the meaning of a text into another “Lamb” here symbolizes innocence, language in the way that the author especially in the context of sacrifice. As we intended the text”. There is a slight all know the Eskimo are not familiar with difference in this definition compared to an animal called “lamb”. Consequently, the Catford’s. Newmark mentioned explicitly word symbolizes nothing if it is translated that what is conveyed from one language in accordance with the real meaning of it. into another is meaning. The meaning And the appropriate choice is the phrase should be suitable with the meaning “Seal of God”. Here, the cultural aspect is intended by the writer in the source taken into consideration. language. This definition, however, has nothing to do with culture. CULTURE AND LANGUAGE Other experts, Hatim and Munday Talking about culture, there are three items (2004:6), stated that translation is “the to which we should pay attention, namely, process of transferring a written text from sociofacts, mentifacts, and artifacts source language( SL) to target language (Poland). The three items are often called (TL)”. This definition is not different from the pillars of culture. Each society has their those expressed by Catford and Newmark. own pillars of culture which is different from Culture is not mentioned at all. other society has. The definition of translation expressed Sociofacts are closely related to the by Nida and Taber is a slight different from relationship of a man and other people, those of the above experts. Nida and behavior and attitude. The relation pattern Taber (1969) wrote: Translating consists in of members of a community to each other reproducing in the receptor language the in Indonesia is different from that in closest natural equivalent of the source America. In Indonesia, a person coming

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 3 home from a far distance place for a long influenced by beliefs, social relations, and time will be asked by his/her friends by this artifacts of a society. expression: “Do you have a gift for Raymond Williams (1994:56) states me?”(Mana oleh-olehnya?). this is a that there are three common categories in natural and common question. The person the definition of culture. The three asked the question will not get angry categories are based on ideal, although the answer to the question is “I’m documentary, and social categories. It is tired.” In America, the question will be stated clearly that language has a close “How’s the trip?” and the answer is “It’s relation to culture. tiring”. “Then, second, there is the Another example on the different ‘documentary’, in which culture is the body relationship of people in one country to the of intellectual and imaginative work, in other is given by Payne. An oil rig which in a detailed way, human thought supervisor in Indonesia shouted at an and experience, the detail of language, employee to take a boat to shore. Since it form and convention in which these are is no-one berates an Indonesia in public, a active, are described and valued.” mob of outraged workers chased the Newmark (1988:94) has a different supervisor with axes. definition of culture. According to him, Mantifacts are related to belief and culture is “the way of life and its tradition. A society has a belief and manifestation that are peculiar to a tradition different from another society. community that uses a particular language Religion, for instance, plays an important as its means of expression.” So, the role in Indonesia and becomes the first language used by a society is influenced principle in Pancasila. Consequently, there by their way of life and of thinking. As an is always a column in a form to be filled for example, the soft drink Fresca was being any purpose. People say that in America promoted by a saleswoman in Mexico. She no column for religion is provided. was surprised that her sales pitch was Differences in religious activities greeted with laughter, and later influence the artifacts produced. American embarrassed when she learned that fresco people do not always have artifacts owned is a slang word for ‘lesbian’ (Payne). by Indonesia people. We have, for In other words, a society with a instance, blangkon, peci, surban, songkok, different language has a different culture. which American people do not have. That is why, when a language is translated In turn, the language of one country is into another one, a translator is faced with different from that of another country at least two different cultures. because every country has different pillars of culture. In other words, a language is

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CULTURAL OBSTACLES IN language and culture. The meaning of the TRANSLATION two words can be nearly the same but Nida in Hoed (2006:24) states that there there is still a different component. This are four obstacles when one translates one kind of equivalence is called the ‘closest language into another. The first is the and natural’ meaning. language itself and this is the main One of the examples that can be given obstacle because the process of is the greeting “good night” which is translation involves at least two languages. commonly translated into “Selamat The translator is required to have a good malam”. The two greeting, however, are mastery of the two aspects in the source not really the same. In Indonesia a person text and the target text due to difference of can begin his speech by saying “Selamat the language structure and system. It is malam” because the speech is made at impossible for those who do not night and there is no problem at all. On the understand the system and structure of other hand, in America people will be English can translate an English text into confused hearing a person beginning his Indonesia language. speech by saying “Good night” although it The second, third, and fourth obstacles is mad at night. are sociocultural, religious, and material Baker (1992:21) calls the problems of obstacles. All of these obstacles can be non-equivalence by the term “common classified into one, that is, the cultural problems of non-equivalence’. One of the obstacle. As a matter of fact, the obstacles problems is caused by culture-specific faced by the translator are that of language concept. He said that ‘the source-language and culture. It is no an exaggeration if a word may express a concept which is translator should be both, bilingual (or totally unknown in the target language’. multilingual) and bicultural (or The concept can be abstract or concrete multicultural). This part will deal with the and has a relation to the pillars of culture. translation obstacle concerning with In addition, the problem often arises culture. because the concept of the source The cultural obstacle has a great language does not have lexical influence on translation because a term equivalence. Baker (1992) calls that ‘the does not always have equivalence in source-language concept is not lexicalized another culture. That is why Nida and in the target language’. He gave the word Taber suggest that a translator should ‘standard’ as an example. The Arabian seek for ‘closest and natural’ equivalence. language does not have the word as an They state implicitly that a word from a adjective. Another example is in English; language and culture does have the same the pronoun of the third person is divided meaning as the word in a different into male (he) and female (she), while we

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 5 do not differentiate them in Indonesian reader. Their own definition of translation language. emphasizing ‘the closest natural equivalent’ shows that Nida and Taber HOW TO SOLVE CULTURAL PROBLEM have the tendency to think that translation IN TRANSLATION work which provides the target reader’s The problem often arising in translating a need is a good work. According to them: text has something to do with cultural “The priority of the audience over the differences of the two languages. The forms of the language means strategy used by the translator to essentially that one must attach greater importance to the forms overcome cultural obstacles is determined understood and accepted by the by the ideology the translator has. audience for which a translation is Newmark in Hatim and Mason (1997:145) designed than to the forms which may write: possess a longer linguistic tradition or “the choice between communicative have greater literary prestige.” and semantic is partly determined by The tendency to domestication orientation towards the social or the chosen by the translator is based on the individual, that is, towards mass belief that the ‘true’, ‘acceptable’, and readership or towards the individual ‘good’ translation is a translation that is voice of the text producer. The choice appropriate to the taste and hope of the is implicitly presented as ideological” It is not easy to solve the problem. A target reader who wants the translated text translator is faced with two difficult choices: to be suitable with the culture of the target he will have an orientation towards the society (Hoed, 2006). If this is the choice, target reader or maintain the source text the translator is trying to make the with its various aspects. Which side we translation as natural as possible so that is choose is debatable. There are two as if a part of written tradition in the target opposite tendencies, namely, language. domestication and foreignization. Related to Newmark’s V diagram, it is noticeable that the translator tends to take DOMESTICATION the side of the target reader. And the Nida and Taber (1982) state assertively methods used are communicative, that a translator should give top priority to idiomatic, free translation or adaptation. the readability of the text by the target

Word for word translation Adaptation Literal translation Free translation Faithful translation Idiomatic translation Semantic translation Communicative transl. (Newmark, 1988: 45)

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According to Venuti (1995), recognizing their own culture in a domestication does not simply meet the cultural other. The prevalence of fluent need of the translation reader. domestication has supported these “British and American publishing, developments because of its economic in turn, has reaped the financial values: enforced by editors, benefits of successfully imposing publishers, and reviewers, fluency Anglo-American cultural values on a results in translations that are vast foreign readership, while eminently readable and therefore producing cultures in the United consumable on the book market, Kingdom and the United States that assisting in their commodification and are aggressively monolingual, insuring the neglect of foreign texts unreceptive to the foreign, accustomed and English-language translation to fluent translation that are invisibly discourse that are more resistant to inscribe foreign texts with English- easy readability.” language values and provide readers Now, let us take a look at the positive with the narcissistic experience of and negative side of domestication.

Table 1. The advantages and disadvantages of domestication ideology in translation

No Advantages Disadvantages 1. The reader of the target Cultural aspects of the source text language can easily understand tend to disappear. the translated text. 2. The translated text sounds The reader of the target language natural and communicative cannot interpret the text because the interpretation is done by the translator. 3. Cultural assimilation is possible The reader of the target language knows nothing of the culture of the source language.

FOREIGNIZATION suitable with the taste and hope of the This ideology takes its stand on the opinion target reader who wants the presence of that the ‘true”, “acceptable” and “good” the culture of the source language and translation is the translation which is thinks that the culture of the source

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VIII/1 October 2013 7 language gives advantages to the society It should be noted that translation (Hoed, 2006:87). So, despite the changed deals with acceptability and readability text, the translator makes every effort to although the translator has made a make the nuance and culture of the source decision to focus on foreignization in language present. One of the aims of the translating. The reader will not feel effort is to give additional knowledge of comfortable reading an awkward and too foreign culture and phenomena to the long sentence. So, the translator has to reader. Of course, the values existing in carry a heavy burden. In one hand, he is the source language are maintained. This forced to maintain the culture of the source ideology is a complete opposite of the text and on the other hand he is not domestication ideology. allowed to preserve ‘linguistic discourse’. Foreignization in translation is useful to Of course, this is not an easy task to do. maintain the cultural reference of the The following is the positive and source text. Consequently, the reader will negative sides of foreignization in know something he does not know before. translation. In other words, the reader becomes aware of the cross cultural understanding.

Table 2. The advantages and disadvantages of foreignization in translation. No Advantages Disadvantages 1. The reader of the target text can The reader of the target text perceive the culture of the possible feels uncomfortable source language. finding some strange terms. 2. The translated text can present The language of the target text the cultural nuance of the source sometimes sounds unnatural. language. 3. Intercultural learning is possible Negative cultural aspects of the to take place source language can be easily transferred into and can influence the reader.

CONCLUSION competence, the translator should have The translator is always faced with cultural bicultural/multicultural competence. Ideally, problems. It is impossible for the translator the translator should have native-like to avoid them because a language and competence although it is very difficult to culture have a close relation to each other. attain. In translation, cross-cultural Consequently, beside the language understanding is needed to understand the

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