A Translation Analysis On Translating Cultural Words In The Novel Tuesday With Morrie By Mitch Albom

Abstract

This research examines the translation of the novel “Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom” (1997). The aim of this research is to identify cultural words contained in novels, the procedures used to translate and the accuracy of translating cultural words. As a theoretical framework, this research applies cultural word theory and translation procedures from Newmark, and uses translation quality assessment by Nababan. The research methodology relies on qualitative data collection, meticulously examining 13 of 32 cultural words taken from the novel “Tuesday with Morrie”. These cultural words were then categorized and analyzed to see which translation strategies were used. The results show that the novel includes five different categories of cultural words. There are ecology, material culture, social culture – work and leisure, organization, custom, ideas, and the last gestures and habits. Then, the translator proficiently used eight of the sixteen translation procedures outlined by Newmark. There are cultural equivalence, shift or transposition, literal translation, transference, descriptive equivalent, functional equivalent, through – translation, and naturalization. The final result of the translation yielded an average accuracy score of 2.2 for cultural word translation. This suggests that translating cultural terms is less accurate and that it is preferable to highlight the translation procedure for description equivalent.