The Approaches, Strategies, and Imageries on the Translation of the Poem “Refugees Blues”

Abstract

This research aims at describing the approaches and strategies applied by Chairil Anwar in translating the poem of W.H. Auden’s Refugees Blues into its translation poem in Indonesian, Lagu Orang Usiran. This research also aims at finding out what kinds of imageries are contained in the poem and its translation. The method used for this research is a qualitative descriptive analysis by conducting research procedures as follows: 1) determining data and data sources of the translation to be examined; 2) determining the problems and aims of the research; 3) comparing the source text and the target text to identify the translation approaches and the strategies applied; 4) identifying the kinds of imageries in the poem and its translation; 5) drawing conclusion of the research and proposing suggestion. The results of the research show that 1) Chairil Anwar applied a mimetic approach by largely translating the meanings and the forms of the source text faithfully; 2) There are four kinds of imagery in the source poem and its translation, i.e., visual imagery, auditory imagery, kinesthetic imagery, and organic imagery; 3) regarding the translation strategies Chairil Anwar used Rhymed translation strategy by staying faithfully on the rhymes, particularly on the end rhyme on the first and the second lines, and repetition on the third lines of every stanza.