Translation Strategies in Translating Toer’s Bumi Manusia

Abstract

Translating Toer’s Bumi Manusia means translating Indonesian culture. As its translator, Lane has to provide English translation which is enjoyable, readable, and acceptable both culturally and linguistically. He solves the problem of non-equivalence by applying translation strategies. This research aims at finding out translation strategies Lane applies in translating Bumi Manusia into This Earth of Mankind. This research is qualitative in nature. There are five translation strategies Lane applies. The five strategies are translation by illustration, translation by cultural substitution, translation by using less expressive word, translation by omission, and translation by using a more general word. The research provides another perspective of how to deal with non-equivalence in translating Indonesian novel into English. In Lane’s case, he acts as a bridge connecting cultural gap between Indonesian and English. He uses English context to make his English translation readable.