The Analysis of Translation in Scott Pilgrim vs the World Movie

The Analysis of Translation in Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie Yozar Firdaus Amrullah

NIM: 13020212410004 13020212410004 [email protected]

Introduction People around the world use different language in communication, both written and spoken. Consequently, in order to understand the meaning, concept, and even the culture of other people in text form, translation is needed. Larson (1984:3) defined Translation as transferring the meaning of the source language into the receptor. This is done by going from the form of the first language to the form of the second language by way of semantic structure. It is meaning which is being transferred and must be held constant, only the form changes. To catch the closest meaning amongst the languages in translation, a translators have to understand not just the literal meaning of Source Language (SL), but also the me aning behind the context, and then transferred them to the Target Language (TL) using approriate method. However, in some cases, exact equal term amongst languages cannot be found, then sometimes there will be non-equivalency in the translation. The problem of non-equivalency may be found in various types of text. One of it is in the subtitle of a movie or film. As cited from wikipedia, subtitles are textual versions of the dialog or commentary in films, television programs, video games, and the like, usually dispalyed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of a dialog in the same language, with or without added information to help viewers who are deaf and hard-of-hearing to follow the dialog, or people who cannot understand the spoken dialogue or who have accent recognition problems. The equivalence in subtitling a film can be essential in order to make the viewers could understand the meaning and enjoy the story. However, since sometimes language could not always be in apple to apple form, then there will be non-equivalency in the translation amongst words. Baker said (1992:20) non-equivalence at word level means that the target language has no direct equivalence for a word which occurs in the source text. Dealing with the term ‘equivalence ‘equivalence’, ’, this t his study is conducted to find out the translation strategies which are used to translate the Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie from English into Bahasa Indonesia. F i n a l T a s k o f T T r a n s l a t i o n | 1

Review of The Study As proposed by Baker (1992: 26-42) in her book, In Other Words, there are 8 (eight) strategies used by professional translators to deal with non-equivalence problems of translation at word level: 1.

Translation by a more general word (superordinate)

This type works equally well in most, if not all, languages, particularly in the area of propositional meaning. 2.

Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word

Sometimes there is a noticeable difference between the expressive meaning of the SL and

its

nearest TL equivalent. To avoid conveying wrong expressive meaning,

translater opted for a more general word. 3.

Translation by cultural substitution

The strategy involves replacing a culture-specific item or expression with a targetlanguage item which does not have the same propositional meaning but is likely to have similar impact on the target reader. It gives the reader a concept which s/he can identify, something familiar and appealing. 4.

Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation

This type particularly common in dealing with culture-specific items, modern concepts, and buzz words. 5.

Translation by paraphrase using a related word

The strategy tends to be used when the concept expressed by the source item is lexicalized in the target language, but in different form, and when the frequency with a certain form is used in the source text is significantly higher than would be natural in the target language. 6.

Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words

This strategy is making paraphrase that is based on modifying a superordinate or simply on unpacking the meaning of the source item, particularly if the item in question is semantically complex. 7.

Translation by omission

If the meaning conveyed by a particular item or expression is not vital enough to the development of the text, to justify distracting the reader with lengthy explanations, translator can simply omit translating the word or expression in question.

F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 2

8.

Translation by illustration

This strategy is used if the word which lacks an equivalent in the target language refers to a physical entity which can be illustrated, particularly if there are restricitons on space and if the text has to remain short, concise, and to the point.

Data and Data Collecting Procedures There are 2 groups of data that I use to conduct this study. The first is the English transcription of Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie that I downloaded from subtitle sharing th

website subscene.com on April 30 , 2013. Then, the second is the Bahasa Indonesia subtitle of Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie in the form of text file that I retrieved also from subscene.com on the same date. It could be noted that the translation of the subtitle is not from the English transcript, but directly from the audio of the movie. Considering the length of the movie, I took only the first 5 minutes for the study. The descriptive qualitative approach is used for the analysis. It is aimed to give description of the facts, features, and also the relationship in the material being investigated in sistematic, factual, and accurate way. In the first step of the analysis, I placed the data in table. It is in form of sentence to sentence, in order to compare and easily find oud the translation. Then, I made analysis based on Baker’s non-equivalence strategy of translation at word level. The transcript reveals 81 lines that I presented as follows:

Data Number

Source Language (English)

Target Language (Bahasa Indonesia)

Strategy of Translation

IN THE MYSTERIOUS LAND… OF TORONTO, CANADA

BEBERAPA WAKTU YANG LALU… DI PULAU YANG MISTERIUS… TORONTO, CANADA…

Using more neutral word/less expressive word Using more neutral word/less expressive word -

4

SCOTT PILGRIM WAS DATING A HIGH SCHOOLER

SCOTT PILGRIM BERPACARAN DENGAN ANAK SMA

Using more neutral word/less expressive word

5

Scott Pilgrim is dating a high-schooler?

Scott Pilgrim berpacaran dengan anak SMA?

6

Really? Is she hot?

Benarkah? Apa dia sexy?

7

How old are you now, Scott? Like, 28?

Berapa usiamu sekarang, Scott? 28?

1 2 3

NOT SO LONG AGO…

Using more neutral word/less expressive word Translation using a loan word Translation by omission


Data Number



Aku tidak bermain permainan kecilmu, anakanak.


Translation by general (superordinate)

8

I'm not playing your little games, kids.

9

So, you've been out of high school for, like, 13 years.

10

I'm 22. Twenty-two.

11

And you're dating a highschool girl. Not bad, not bad.

Jadi, kamu sudah keluar dari SMA, sekitar 13 tahun lalu. Aku 22 tahun. Dua puluh dua. Dan kamu berpacaran dengan anak SMA. Lumayan, lumayan.

12

And you're dating a highschool girl. Not bad , not bad.

Dan kamu berpacaran dengan anak SMA. Lumayan, lumayan.

Thank you, thank you. So, did you guys, like, you know, do it yet?

Terima kasih, terima kasih. Jadi, apa kalian sudah melakukannya? Kita sudah melakukan banyak hal. Kita naik bis bersama. Dan kita melakukan pembicaraan penuh arti tentang bagaimana klub buku tahunan berjalan dan tentang temannya dan, kamu tahu, drama.

-

13 14

a

more word

Using more neutral word/less expressive word Translation by general (superordinate)

a

more word



15

We have done many things.

16

We ride the bus together.

17

And we have meaningful conversations about how yearbook club went

18

and about her friends.. and, you know, drama.

19

Have you even kissed her?

Sudahkah kamu menciumnya?


20

We almost held hands once, but then she got embarrassed.

Kita hampir berpegangan tangan sekali, tapi kemudian dia tersipu malu.


21

Well, aren't you pleased as punch.

Apa kamu benar-benar senang?


23

I don't know what you're talking about. So, what's her name?

Aku tidak tahu apa yang kamu bicarakan. Jadi, siapa namanya?

-

24

Knives Chau.

Knives Chau.

-

25

She's Chinese.

Dia orang China.

-

26

29

Wicked. Hebat. So, when do we get to meet Jadi, kapan kita bisa her? bertemu dengannya? Oh, tolong, semoga Oh, please, let it be soon. secepatnya. That's for me. Itu untukku.

Using more neutral word/less expressive word Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words -

30

Hi.

-

22

27 28

Hai.

-

-

-


Data Number




31

You promise to be good?

Kamu berjanji akan bersikap baik?


32

Of course I'll be good.

Tentu saja aku akan bersikap baik.


33

Seriously, please be good.

Serius, tolong bersikap baik.


34

Am I normally not? Hey, Knives, this is Stephen. Stills. He's the talent. Hey. Is she gonna geek out on us?

Apa biasanya aku tidak?

-

Hey, Knives, ini Stephen. Stills. Dia yang berbakat.

-

Hey. Apa dia akan bersikap gokil pada kita?


38

She'll just sit in the corner, man.

Dia hanya akan duduk di pojok, kawan.


39

I mean, I want her to geek out on us.

Maksudku, aku ingin dia bersikap gokil pada kita.


40

She'll geek. She geeks.

Dia akan bersikap gokil. Dia gokil.


41

She has the capacity to geek .

Dia punya kapasitas menjadi gokil.


42

Okay.

Ok.

43

You're good.

Kamu boleh masuk.

44

Wow.

Wow.

Using more neutral word/less expressive word -

45

Here, let me get your coat.

Sini, biarku ambil jaketmu.

-

46

Hi.

Hai.

-

47

Knives, itu Kim.

-

Maaf, siapa tadi namamu?

-

49

Knives, that's Kim. Sorry, what was your name? Kim.

Kim.

-

50

And you play the drums?

Dan kamu bermain drum?

-

51

Yes.

Ya.

-

52

That is so awesome.

Itu sangat hebat.

-

53

Knives, that's Young Neil.

Knives, itu Young Neil.

-

54

Hi.

Hai.

-

55

Hi.

Hai.

-

56

What do you play?

Apa yang kamu mainkan?

-

57

Wow, Zelda, Tetris.

Wow, Zelda, Tetris.

-

58

That's kind of a big question.

Itu seperti pertanyaan yang berat.


59

Okay, let's start with Launchpad McQuack.

Ok, kita mulai dengan Launchpad McQuack.

-

35 36 37

48


Data Number



61

That's not the actuaI title of the… We are Sex Bob-Omb!

Itu bukan judul sebenarnya dari… Kita adalah Sex Bob-Omb!

-

62

One, two, three, four!

Satu, dua, tiga, empat!

-

63

Yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah

-

64

Yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah

-

65

Laminate the stasis

Laminate the stasis

-

66

Mama, mama serpentine

Mama, mama serpentine

-

67

I got a breathalyzer

I got a breathalyzer

-

68

And my body's clean

And my body's clean

-

69

Yeah! Yeah!

Yeah! Yeah!

-

70

Thank you!

Thank you!

-

71

Get ready

Get ready

-

72

Yeah

Yeah

-

73

Yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah

-

74

Yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah

-

75

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

-

76

Yeah!

Yeah!

77

You guys are so amazing.

Kalian sangat… mengagumkan.

78

She seems nice.

Dia terlihat baik.

Translation by general (superordinate) -

79

Yeah.

Ya.

-

80

Yeah, she seems awesome.

Ya, dia terlihat hebat.

-

81

Yeah.

Ya.

-

60


-

a

more word

Findings and Discussions From the list of transcription, there are 27 non-equivalence at word level translation found. The strategy which is often used is translation using more neutral word/less expressive word. More details of the list is presented in the table as follows:

No.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Type of Strategies

Using more neutral word/less expressive word Translation by paraphrase using a related word Translation by cultural substitution Translation by a more general word (superordinate) Translation by omission

Number of Words 10 5 5 3 2

Percentage

37 % 18,5 % 18,5 % 11,1 % 7,4 %


No.

6. 7.

Type of Strategies

Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words Translation using a loan word Total Non Equivalence

Number of Words 1 1 27

Percentage

3,7% 3,7% 100%

As shown from the table above, I found there are 10 cases using more neutral word/less expressive word strategy, 5 cases of Translation by paraphrase using a related word strategy, 5 cases of Translation by cultural substitution strategy, 3 cases of Translation by a more general word (superordinate), 2 cases of Translation by omission strategy, 1 case of Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words, and 1 case of Translation using a loan word. The findings are described as follows:

1.

Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word

Data 1 (SL) NOT SO LONG AGO…. (TL) BEBERAPA WAKTU YANG LALU…

The equivalence meaning for long is panjang . It is translated into beberapa to make the sentence natural in Indonesian context.

Data 2 (SL) IN THE MYSTERIOUS LAND… (TL) DI PULAU YANG MISTERIUS…

The equivalence meaning for long is tanah. It is translated into pulau to make the sentence natural in Indonesian context.

Data 4 (SL) SCOTT PILGRIM WAS DATING A HIGH SCHOOLER (TL) SCOTT PILGRIM BERPACARAN DENGAN ANAK SMA


Data 5 (SL) Scott Pilgrim is dating a high-schooler? (TL) Scott Pilgrim berpacaran dengan anak SMA? High schooler is a slang word that refer to high school students. Therefore to make the

translation natural in Indonesian context, it should be t ranslated into anak SMA.

Data 9 (SL) So, you've been out of high school for, like, 13 years. (TL) Jadi, kamu sudah keluar dari SMA, sekitar 13 tahun lalu.

In order to maintain the sense of the sentence, word sekitar is used instead of using seperti.

Data 12 (SL) And you're dating a high-school girl. Not bad, not bad. (TL) Dan kamu berpacaran dengan anak SMA. Lumayan, lumayan.

The equivalence meaning for Not bad is tidak buruk . To make the sentence natural in Indonesian context, it is translated into lumayan.

Data 19 (SL) Have you even kissed her? (TL) Sudahkah kamu menciumnya?

The equivalence meaning for kissed her should be mencium gadis itu. It is translated into menciumnya to make the sentence natural in Indonesian context.

Data 27 (SL) So, when do we get to meet her? (TL) Jadi, kapan kita bisa bertemu dengannya?


The equivalence meaning for get is memperoleh or mendapatkan, but the translator choose to translate it into bisa to make the sentence natural in Indonesian context.

Data 43 (SL) You're good. (TL) Kamu boleh masuk. good means baik in Indonesia, but the translator choose to translated it into boleh

masuk concerning the context of the story.

Data 58 (SL) That's kind of a big question. (TL) Itu seperti pertanyaan yang berat.

The equivalence meaning for big is besar . To make the sentence natural in Indonesian context, it is translated into berat .

2.


Data 20 (SL) We almost held hands once, but then she got embarrassed. (TL) Kita hampir berpegangan tangan sekali, tapi kemudian dia tersipu malu.

The real translation for embarrassed in this sentence is shy, but to achieve a high level of precision in meaning tersipu malu is used.

Data 21 (SL) Well, aren't you pleased as punch . (TL) Apa kamu benar-benar senang?

The literal translation for pleased as punch is happy like a hit . In this context, the translator might think it is not suitable for the target language, thus he paraphrases it into benar-benar senang .


Data 31 (SL) You promise to be good? (TL) Kamu berjanji akan bersikap baik?

Data 32 (SL) Of course I'll be good. (TL) Tentu saja aku akan bersikap baik.

Data 33 (SL) Seriously, please be good. (TL) Serius, tolong bersikap baik.

The equivalence meaning for good is baik , but to achieve a high level of precision in meaning bersikap baik is used.

3.


Data 37 (SL) Is she gonna geek out on us? (TL) Apa dia akan bersikap gokil pada kita?

Data 39 (SL) I mean, I want her to geek out on us. (TL) Maksudku, aku ingin dia bersikap gokil pada kita.

Data 40 (SL) She'll geek. She geeks. (TL) Dia akan bersikap gokil. Dia gokil.

Data 41 (SL) She has the capacity to geek . (TL) Dia punya kapasitas menjadi gokil. geek out and geek is a slang which means odd or non-mainstream people, with

different connotations ranging from “an expert or enthusiast” to “a person heaviliy F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 10

intererst in a hobby”. In this context it may means show enthusiasm, in which there is no literal translation in bahasa Indonesia. Nevertheless, the translator try to translate it into Indonesian slang word, the cultural subtition that is bersikap gokil and gokil .

Data 38 (SL) She'll just sit in the corner, man. (TL) Dia hanya akan duduk di pojok, kawan.

Literally man means a male person, but in this context the meaning is buddy, thus the translator use cultural subtition word that is kawan.

4.

Translation by a more general word (superordinate)

Data 8 (SL) I'm not playing your little games, kids. (TL) Aku tidak bermain permainan kecilmu, anak-anak. kids is a slang word that refer to friends or buddies. To make the translation more

general in Indonesian context, the translator choose to translate it into anak-anak .

Data 11 (SL) And you're dating a high-school girl . Not bad, not bad. (TL) Dan kamu berpacaran dengan anak SMA. Lumayan, lumayan..

The equivalence meaning for a high-school girl should be gadis SMA, but the translator choose more general term in Indonesian context that is anak SMA.

Data 77 (SL) You guys are so amazing. (TL) Kalian sangat… mengagumkan..

Literally, according to Oxford Basic English Dictionary, ‘guy’ means a man. In this context, You guys is a slang word that refer to all of you. The translator choose to translate it into kalian to make the translation more general in Indonesian context. F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 11

5.


Data 7 (SL) How old are you now, Scott? Like, 28? (TL) Berapa usiamu sekarang, Scott? 28?

The omission of word Like in this sentence does not change the meaning, therefore the translator did this strategy to simplify the text.

Data 14 (SL) So, did you guys, like, you know , do it yet? (TL) Jadi, apa kalian sudah melakukannya?

There is inevitable some loss of meaning in this case. The word like, you know in this sentence convey the idea of to ascertain a condition, and this is lost in translation.

6.

Translation by paraphrase using unrelated words

Data 28 (SL) Oh, please, let it be soon. (TL) Oh, tolong, semoga secepatnya.

The real translation for let it be is allowing or biarkan in Indonesian, but to achieve a high level of precision in meaning semoga is used

7.

Translation using a loan word or loan word plus explanation

Data 6 (SL) Really? Is she hot? (TL) Benarkah? Apa dia sexy?

Literally, according to Oxford Basic English Dictionary, ‘hot’ means having a high temperature. The word sexy is a loan word from word in source language sexy as replacement of the original word, hot . It is used because it sounds more modern and youthful. F i n a l T a s k o f T r a n s l a t i o n | 12

Conclusion

To catch the closest meaning in the translation of one language into another, a translator need to know the lexical and the meaning behind the context. Although there is always non-equivalency at word level that could be found, he may uses appropriate strategies as proposed by Baker. As revealed from the analysis, there are 7 strategies which is used by the translator to deal with non-equivalency at word level problem. The most strategy used by the translator is Translation by a more neutral/less expressive word (37 %). That means the literal translation of the word maybe available in Bahasa Indonesia, but it may need to be adjusted in order to make the translation natural in Indonesian context.

References

Baker, Mona. 1992. In Other Words : a Coursebook on Translation. London : Routledge. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subtitle Larson, M. L. 1984. Meaning-Based Translation: a Guide to Cross-Language Equivalence, Larham: University Press of America rd

Oxford Basic English Dictionary 3 Edition. 2006. Oxford: Oxford University Press Subscene.com for Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie Bahasa Indonesia subtitle, and Scott Pilgrim vs The World Movie English transcript.


The Analysis of Translation in Scott Pilgrim vs the World Movie

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