Translation and Research

Adakah di antara sobat yang mengambil terjemahan (translation) sebagai wilayah kajian skripsi, tesis atau disertasi? Jika ada, maka sobat perlu membaca tulisan Peter Newmark tentang terjemahan dan penelitian (translation and research).

Menurut Newmark (1998: 206-207), ada beberapa hal yang harus dicatat ketika kita sedang mengadakan penelitian mengenai kritik terjemahan, khususnya penelitian ilmiah seperti untuk skripsi, tesis ataupun disesrtasi. Untuk memahami lebih lanjut tentang translation and research ini, mari kita pelajari penjelasan Newmark berikut ini :

Whilst doctoral theses on this or that aspect of translation theory or consisting of contrastive translation criticism are no longer rare, it is unusual to include the candidate's own translation of a text as a component of such a thesis. Such a doctorate should, I think, consist of:

1. A preface covering current thinking about the translation of this text-category;
2. An introduction to the particular text and its translation, substantiating the translation method to be adopted by the candidate;
3. The text and its translation;
4. A detailed translation commentary;
5. A conclusion, assessing the validity and the semantic loss of the translation.

I am assuming that the text chosen should be 'scholarly' (dottorabilejokecf. papabile, candidate for papacy), rich and complex; that it should be a serious and dignified piece of writing; that in length it should be between a quarter and a third of that of the whole thesis; that it should require extensive research ('pyramids of notes' as Vladimir Nabokov put it) to enable the candidate to translate it appropriately, and that it should have one or more of the following characteristics: it should be of historical and/or literary interest; it could be a distinguished text that urgently requires retranslating, since the previous translation is misleading; it should make an original contribution to its subject; it should be linguistically original and/or exceptionally difficult; it should be wide-ranging, polysemous, allusive and imaginative. Since translation is often maligned as a mere craft in some academic circles, the existence of such a degree should help to establish the academic respectability of translation. In the 19th century, German and British classical professors such as Housman were engaged in similar work, but before the time of doctorates in the humanities.

Cukup singkat bukan? :-) Meskipun tulisan Newmark tentang Terjemahan dan Penelitian (Translation and Research) ini cukup singkat, tapi semoga saja bermanfaat.....

Referensi :

Newmark, Peter. 1998. More Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd