Expansion of Indonesian to English Phenomena: A Descriptive Analytical Study of the Novels Written by Ahmad Tohari

Abstract

This research examines the Expansion phenomena in translation using the strategies by Chesterman (2016). The expansion here means simply the phenomena of adding words from Source Text into Target Text Translation. The main purpose of this research is to find out how effective the Expansion is in helping to resolve translation problems in translating Indonesian to English. This research uses a mixed qualitative and quantitative research method, with the main focus on qualitative. The research uses a quantitative method for presenting the result. The descriptive research method is used to explain how the data was collected, classified, analyzed, and then summarized to get the conclusion. The data of this research are expansion, taken from the novel by Ahmad Tohari, entitled “Mata yang Enak Dipandang.” The Expansion would be identified and collected by comparing the texts in both the target language (Indonesian version) and The source Text (English version) up to 150 data. The random sampling technique is used. The researcher will take 150 data. From the 150 data, 21 data will be chosen randomly and then taken to be analyzed. Thus, the research uses a random sampling technique. There are three primary groups of categories in Chesterman’s strategies, namely syntactic/grammatical (4 out of 21 data), semantic (8 out of 21 data), and pragmatic (9 out of 21 data). There are 150 data of expansion but only 21 data were purposely chosen to be analyzed, with the use of Chesterman strategies which are: Information Change (1 data), Trope change (2 data), Abstraction Change (2), Explicitness Change (5), clause Structure Change (2), Distribution Change (4 data), Cohesion Change (1),  Scheme Change (1 data), Emphasis Change (1 data), Interpersonal Change (2 data), Illocutionary Change (1). The result shows that most of the translations in the novel by Ahmad Tohari most of it using Explicitness Change ( 5 out of 21 data). As part of Semantic strategies, Exlpicitness change serves as an indicator of an idea that to translate a novel; the translator must commit a lot of manipulating in the process to reach the equivalency of work. The use of translation strategies by Chesterman in the expansion phenomena proves that only 20% of translation uses syntactical; the rest of it belongs to Semantic (38%) and Pragmatic (42%). It means that translating a literary work is quite challenging. The fact that literature work, which in this case is a novel, has a deeper meaning than it appears and how the work mostly uses figurative language to convey the message pressurize the translator to immerse the Source text carefully and also demands the translator to have a broad knowledge of the language and its social content.