1st English Language and Literature ELECTRONIC ISSN: 2579-7263 CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549 International Conference (ELLiC) MORE THAN WORDS: STRATEGIES USED BY INDONESIAN TOURIST GUIDES TO INTERPRET CULTURAL TERMS IN SURAKARTA AND YOGYAKARTA ROYAL PALACES Budi Purnomo Sahid Tourism Institute of Surakarta Indonesia [email protected] Abstract Interpretation of cultural terms meaning between spoken languages is not often simply a word to word transference from a source language into a target language. This research is intended to investigate the strategies used by Indonesian tourist guides to interpret cultural terms during providing assistance and information to English speaking tourists visiting four royal palaces in Surakarta and Yogyakarta Cities. This study is of a qualitative and descriptive nature. The data were collected through joining twenty guided group tours in Kasunanan Palace, Mangkunegaran Palace (Surakarta City), Kasultanan Palace and Pakualaman Palace (Yogyakarta City) and recording the tourist guides‘ interpretation of cultural terms to tourists. The cultural terms were classified into five categories: palace properties, royal heirlooms, ancient weapons, precious antiques and cultural ceremonies. The research findings show that the interpretation strategies used by tourist guides to interpret cultural terms are: addition, borrowing, synonymy, descriptive equivalent and componential analysis. The findings indicate strongly that the Indonesian tourist guides should improve their interpretation skills in order that their guiding services become more meaningful, especially to overcome cultural obstacles. Keywords: interpretation strategies, tourist guides, cultural terms As one of the tourism service providers, a tour guide is a person who escorts tourists with a language chosen by them for a Introduction specific purpose about tourism objects Tourism is currently the second-largest and interprets history of cultural heritage source of income for Indonesia after the and local interest. In interpreting cultural oil and gas sector. Since 2015 the growth terms, a tour guide needs a strategy. rate of Indonesian tourism is above 10%, Baker (2011) identified unknown far higher than the average national concepts in a target language, such as economy growth rate which is only 5.2%. culture-specific concepts. Adapted from Therefore, in 2017 the Ministry of translation strategies, Suryawinata & Tourism targeted tourism as a leading Haryanto (2003) classified interpretation sector in the next decades. In other strategies into ten kinds: (1) borrowing, words, the sector will be tourism and (2) cultural equivalent, (3) descriptive non-tourism instead of oil and non-oil. equivalent, (4) componential analysis, (5) That is way the development of tourism synonymy, (6) formal interpretation, (7) in this country is so important. specification and generalization, (8) gain, As the main tourism centers in Indonesia, (9) omission or deletion and (10) Surakarta and Yogyakarta Cities are modulation. destinations with many places of interest Up to now there are some interesting for tourists. They have Kasunanan, studies have been done on interpretation Mangkunegaran, Kasultanan and strategies. Thompson et all (2001) Pakualaman Royal Palaces as the main described that errors occur frequently in tourist destinations which were built in interpretations provided by untrained the 18th century. nurse-interpreters during cross-language encounters, so complaints of many non- 372 1st English Language and Literature ELECTRONIC ISSN: 2579-7263 CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549 International Conference (ELLiC) English-speaking patients may be (Yogyakarta City) and recording the misunderstood by their physicians. tourist guides‘ interpretation of cultural Sutopo (2006) found that interpreting has terms to English speaking tourists. The a great role in developing international structure of tour participants include trading, especially for businessmen who people from all walks of life, of different do not master English. There are four levels of education and of all ages (except roles of interpreter: as inspirator, for children). The guided group tours mediator, explanator and guide. The formed the arena where expressions of interpreter applies two types of interaction between tourist guides and interpreting: sight and consecutive tourists could be observed. The cultural interpreting. Magablih et all (2010) terms were classified into five categories: investigated interpretation strategies used palace properties, royal heirlooms, by Jordanian tourist guides to handle ancient weapons, precious antiques and cultural specificity in tourism material. cultural ceremonies. These categories are They found that strategies used by the the main components of the cultural Jordanian tourist guides to overcome heritage promoted by the Ministry of cultural obstacles are: transliteration, Tourism to be continuously preserved. paraphrasing, expansion, providing The collected data were categorized in cultural equivalent, neutralization, literal terms of the strategies used in interpreting translation, reduction and recognized cultural terms. translation. Widyahening and Sitoresmi (2016) concluded that it was not an easy Findings and Discussion work to search an appropriate equivalent In the interaction between the tourist for a sentence, a word, a phrase, a clause guides and tourists, it was found many which has relationship with a Javanese cultural terms come from the source culture from source language text into language-either Indonesian or Javanese- target language text. that should be interpreted into the target The main purpose of this paper is to language, i.e. English by the tourist investigate the strategies used by guides. There are five types of Indonesian tourist guides to interpret interpretation strategies used by the cultural terms during providing assistance Indonesian tourist guides to interpret the and information to English speaking cultural terms: addition, borrowing, tourists visiting four royal palaces in synonymy, descriptive equivalent and Surakarta and Yogyakarta Cities. componential analysis. Methodology Addition This research is of a qualitative and Addition is a strategy of interpretation descriptive nature. It was done in through which adjustments are made to Surakarta and Yogyakarta Royal Palaces the content of the source language. The which are not only homes to the kings strategy serves stylistic as well as and their families, but also become the strategic purposes. The strategy needs to flame guard of Javanese culture. In these be used in order to compensate for the palaces the tourists can learn from seeing linguistic (structural, stylistic and directly on how culture still being rhetorical) differences that exist between preserved in the pace development of the any two languages. world. The data were collected through The following is an example of addition joining twenty guided group tours in strategy used by a tourist guide. Kasunanan Palace, Mangkunegaran Palace (Surakarta City), Kasultanan Tourist : What is this? Palace and Pakualaman Palace Guide : This is gamelan music instrument. It was made during 373 1st English Language and Literature ELECTRONIC ISSN: 2579-7263 CD-ROM ISSN: 2579-7549 International Conference (ELLiC) Majapahit Kindom era around Tourist : Who is standing in front of the fourteenth century. gate? Guide : He is an abdi dalem. He wears a In the above conversation, the tour black batik with keris motives. guide used gamelan music instrument instead of gamelan. The words music In the above conversation, the tour instrument should be added in order to be guide used the words abdi dalem, batik acceptable in the target language. and keris in the target language. Since Another example of addition strategy there is no equivalent expressions in the used by a tourist guide is as follows: target language, the tourist guide used Tourist : What is the center of this original expressions (transliteration palace? strategy) as in the source language. Guide : The center of Mangkunegaran Another example of borrowing Palace is the pendopo, a strategy used by a tourist guide is as pavilion built in a Javanese follows: architectural style. Tourist : Where would we go after this? Guide : After passing the main gate, In the above conversation, the tour then enter baluwerti yard. guide added a phrase a pavilion built in a Baluwerti formerly was made of Javanese architectural style to clarify bamboo. pendopo which is different from a usual pavilion. In the above conversation, the tour One more example of addition guide used the word bamboo in the target strategy used by a tourist guide is as language, an adaptation of the original follows: word bambu in the source language Tourist : Where can we see the archery (naturalization strategy). competition? One more example of borrowing Guide : See over there. That‘s strategy used by a tourist guide is as Kemandhungan Kidul. You can watch jemparingan or archery follows: competition in Mataraman style there. The uniqueness of Tourist : It seems many rooms inside? jemparingan is that every Guide : You‘re right. This building is participant must wear Javanese separated into few rooms, traditional clothing and archery namely library, wardrobe room in a sitting position. on the left, bedroom on the right, gandok wetan and gandok kulon. Gandok wetan and In the above conversation, the tour gandok kulon are where the guide added words in Mataraman style in sultan family live. order that the competition