Translation Strategies of Similes in “Game of Thrones” Novel

Dellia Erdita

doi:10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.4.18

Abstract

This research aims to find out the similes found in the novel “Game of Thrones” and its Indonesian translation “Perebutan Tahta”, and to investigate what translation strategies are used in translating the similes from the source text to the target text. The method applied in this research is descriptive qualitative which is used to describe the phenomena occuring in the translation of similes from English into Indonesian. The data were collected from the first three chapters of the novel Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and its Indonesian version entitled Perebutan Tahta. The similes are identified by using the theories of similes proposed by Israel (2014), Harding (2017), Knowles and Moon (2006), and Kridalaksana (2013). In analyzing the data, the translation strategies proposed by Chesterman (2016) are used. The result shows that there are 32 data found, 28 of them are similes translated into similes, while 4 of them are similes translated into non-similes. The translation strategy used to translate similes into similes is trope change type A, while the translation strategy used to translate similes into non-similes are trope change type C. The findings show that the translation of similes into similes are dominant in the first three chapter of the novel with the percentage 87,5% from out of 32 data found, while the translation from similes to non-similes is only 12,5%. The findings also show that there is secondary strategy found while analyzing the data, namely compression. Nevertheless, regardless of the fact that the similes in the source text are translated into similes and non-similes in the target text, the main translation strategy used is still trope change, although the types are different. For the reason that the trope change strategy is specifically stated by Chesterman to translate figurative expressions, which includes simile. Furthermore, the secondary strategy, compression, occurred because due to the structure of Indonesian language, the translation in the target text tends to be shorter than the original source text in English.

Highlights

1 Munday (2016) defines translation as “a process between two different languages that involves the changing of an original written ST in the original verbal language into a written TT in a different verbal language” (p. 8)
This research aims to find out the similes found in the novel “Game of Thrones” and its Indonesian translation “Perebutan Tahta”, and to investigate what translation strategies are used in translating the similes from the source text to the target text
Referring to the problems of the research, the researcher is inclined to discover the similes in the English source text and how they are translated into the Indonesian target text

Summary

Introduction

1 Munday (2016) defines translation as “a process between two different languages that involves the changing of an original written ST in the original verbal language into a written TT in a different verbal language” (p. 8). In the process of translating the original source text to the target text, the translators may find difficulties due to cultural differences. Since translating is transferring the words to another language and convey the information that exists in the text, cultural differences could be a huge problem for the translators. Translating figurative language can be a challenge for translators due to language and cultural differences. The writers often use figurative language as rhetorical devices to enhance the effect of storytelling. Translating a novel that is full of figurative expressions might be a hurdle for translators. The translation of the English simile ‘white as snow’ might be unfamiliar to the Indonesian target text reader if it is translated literally to an Indonesian simile as ‘putih

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