Proving The Intervention Of Hegemonic Power In The Translation Of Indonesian Literary Works In European Languages

Abstract

Studies found out that globalization gives rise to the hegemony of dominant economic and cultural forces. The phenomenon is also visible in translation. This study aims to examine to what extent hegemonic power exists in the translation of Indonesian literary works and suggest translation methods according to the problems found. The data sources are the English translation of PramoedyaAnantaToer'sBumiManusia entitled This Earth of Mankind and the German Translation of Mochtarlubis' Harimau! Harimau! namely Tiger! Tiger!. This study is qualitative with a translational, postcolonial, and literary analysis approach. The objects of the investigation are changes in the level of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs in both translations suspected of representing a hegemonic power. The results show that This Earth of Mankind deleted some crucial thoughts of the protagonist and several events describing the nationalism and revolutionary act of the female characters. Tiger! Tiger! exposes adjustment of cultural and natural elements into a different standard of belief and value. Based on the results, it is proposed to give attention to the description of the protagonists and all kinds of setting depicted in literary works and transfer them into a target language as close as possible to the reality described in the source text. This study is expected to be constructive criticism for translation practices and voice the injustices that still occur to literary works from non-dominant languages.