Module 17 - 18 Testing The Translation. How to Evaluate your translation Problems in testing a translation.

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1 Module 17 - 18 Testing The Translation

2 How to Evaluate your translation Problems in testing a translation

3 One problem encountered in testing the translation is the problem of overall length. In general, good translations tend to be somewhat longer than the original test. This is due to the fact that the translator wishes to state everything that is in the source language and second, that the receptor-language readers, lacking the background of the source-language message, need somewhat more lexical information in the receptor language.

4 Any well-translated message, which has the dimensions of length and difficulty, is designed to fit the channel capacity of the receptors. Channel capacity is the degree of ability by which a receptor has to understand the message. The narrower the channel capacity, the more redundancy needs to be introduced to lighten the communication load. If one translates literally from the source into the receptor language with the dimension of length, this will almost inevitably mean that the dimension of difficulty will be appreciably greater.

5 Since the literal translation is relatively short, the dimension of difficulty becomes greater, because the ability of the readers to understand the message is less. The only possible solution is to “draw out” the message, that is, to build in redundancy. In the process of building in redundancy, one does not add an information which is not implicit in the original message. One is only raising such information from an implicit to an explicit level, which may be required in order to make a translation dynamic equivalent, in the sense that it fits the channel capacity of the present receptors to approximately the same extent as the original communication fits the channel capacity of the original readers.

6 A common lexical expansion is the adding of classifiers to the words. Another form is descriptive substitutes, which are almost longer than the corresponding originals, for they require several different lexical items to describe the form and/or function of the object or event in question.

7 There is often information that is indispensable to the understanding of the source message, but should be placed in the form of marginal notes on the page where the difficulty of understanding occurs. Take as an example a game called “cricket”, which has not been known in Indonesia. In order for readers to comprehend what kind of game it is, some supplementary information must be given in a marginal note, e.g. ‘suatu bentuk olah raga yang dimainkan oleh dua kesebelasan dengan menggunakan pemukul dan bola yang ditembakkan kedalam gawang kecil’.

8 It would be quite wrong to suggest that in every sentence, that is, in all types of context and in all types of styles, one encounters the need of expansion. Quite naturally there are some expressions that are reduced in the process of transfer from one language to another, e.g. “Never again for me!” may be reduced to “Tobat!’ or “Kapok!’. It is just as important to employ proper reductions as it is to introduce the proper expansions, for both expansions and reductions are based on the same fundamental principles of producing the closest, natural equivalent.

9 One is only raising such information from an implicit to an explicit level, which may be required in order to make a translation dynamic equivalent, in the sense that it fits the channel capacity of the present receptors to approximately the same extent as the original communication fits the channel capacity of the original readers.

10 Another form is descriptive substitutes, which are almost longer than the corresponding originals, for they require several different lexical items to describe the form and/or function of the object or event in question. For example, “Etymology” may be described as ‘Ilmu asal usul kata’. Some expressions, however, are so semantically condensed in the source-language text that they often require considerable expansion in the receptor language and can be misunderstood if translated literally.

11 A clear example is the Wordsworth’s quotation “The Child is Father of the Man”. Accordingly this sentence must be semantically restructured by expansion to read, ’Anak, karena masih suci, berada lebih dekat ke surga daripada orang dewasa’.

12 Buku Terjemahan Sekadar Komoditas "SAYA punya pengalaman buruk dengan buku terjemahan," demikian bunyi sebuah e-mail di satu milis-sebutan populer untuk mailing list- tentang buku. "Pusing rasanya ketika membaca Politics Among Nations karya Hans Morgenthau dalam bahasa Indonesia. Padahal, ada dua versi terjemahan buku itu karena diterbitkan dua penerbit yang berbeda. Akhirnya saya pinjam teman saja buku aslinya."

13 PENGALAMAN di atas tidak hanya milik satu atau dua orang belaka. Tidak sedikit pembaca yang pernah mengalami hal serupa: menemui kendala dalam membaca buku terjemahan. "Masalah paling serius dari buku terjemahan adalah kalau hasil terjemahannya tidak bisa dibaca!" tandas Sapardi Djoko Damono, penyair yang juga penerjemah buku. Kesulitan yang dijumpai bisa jadi tak sekadar dari segi bahasa semata, seperti jalinan kata yang rumit atau kalimat yang menjadi tak berarti dalam bahasa Indonesia.

14 Lebih jauh, isi buku tersebut lantas sulit dimengerti dan dipahami. Celakanya lagi, jika jeli membandingkan dengan teks aslinya, terkadang dijumpai ketidaksesuaian interpretasi bahkan penyelewengan konteks pada hasil terjemahan. Ditambah pula jika banyak terjadi kesalahan yang sifatnya teknis seperti salah ketik atau salah ejaan yang mengganggu kenikmatan membaca, semakin membuat orang frustrasi terhadap buku terjemahan.

15 Persoalan buku terjemahan menjadi penting dibicarakan saat ini sebab pilihan konsumen terhadap buku terbatas pada apa yang disuguhkan pasar. Padahal, pasar kini dibanjiri buku terjemahan. Meskipun setiap penerbit punya kebijakan menerbitkan karya penulis lokal, kebanyakan penerbit memberi porsi yang lebih besar pada terbitan karya terjemahan, berkisar antara 50-80 persen dari keseluruhan produksi. Alasannya beragam, mulai dari yang idealis bertujuan memberi sumbangan pada pembangunan peradaban manusia Indonesia, memberi wacana baru bagi masyarakat, memperkenalkan berbagai ilmu pengetahuan hingga latar belakang yang lebih realistis, yaitu jumlah karya lokal yang berkualitas masih minim. Kesulitan memperoleh karya lokal bermutu semakin terasa pada penerbit-penerbit kecil. "Jumlah penulis lokal yang berkualitas masih sangat sedikit," papar Anas Syahrul Alimi, Direktur Utama penerbit Jendela, Yogyakarta. "Itu pun mereka sudah diambil penerbit- penerbit besar."

16 Berdasarkan perhitungan bisnis, menerbitkan buku terjemahan memang lebih menguntungkan ketimbang meluncurkan karya lokal. Sebagai perbandingan untuk menjadi pemegang copyright buku asing, penerbit membayar royalti berkisar antara enam sampai tujuh persen. Sementara untuk penulis lokal penerbit harus membayar royalti sebesar sepuluh sampai 15 persen bahkan ada yang mencapai 20 persen. "Dari segi ini tentu lebih menguntungkan berjualan buku terjemahan," jelas Juan St Sumampouw dari Divisi Humaniora Penerbit Kanisius Yogyakarta.

17 Kesulitan yang dihadapi penerbit pemegang copyright biasanya karena harus membayar uang muka yang nilainya setara dengan penjualan 5.000 eksemplar. Padahal tiras cetakan pertama di Indonesia rata-rata hanya 2.000-3.000 eksemplar, itu pun terkadang baru habis terjual dalam dua tahun. Tapi kesulitan semacam ini tidak menjadi bagian yang harus dilalui penerbit-penerbit yang tidak menganggap penting urusan copyright sehingga keuntungan yang ditangguk bisa jadi lebih besar jumlahnya karena tidak harus membayar royalti copyright.