A THOUSAND FIREFLIES IN MANHATTAN: TRANSLATION IN THE SHORT STORIES OF UMAR KAYAM

Harry Aveling (Harry Aveling, Ph.D. receives his Ph.D. in Malay Literature from the National University of Singapore and a Doctorate in Creative Arts (DCA) from the University of Technology, Sydney. In late 2004 he was Visiting Professor of Translation Studies with)

Celt: A Journal of Culture, English Language Teaching & Literature
Vol 5, No 2: December 2005, Nationally Accredited

This paper discusses the techniques used by major Indonesian author Umar Kayam for presenting representations of American English and Javanese language and culture in his early Indonesian-language short stories, published as Sri Sumarah dan Cerita Pendek Lainnya in 1975. Using Vinay and Darbelnets list of translation strategies, the paper suggests that Kayam made extensive use of direct translation, especially literal translation with borrowings from English, and borrowings with Indonesian glosses for Javanese terms. He also uses calques and adaptations in a very few incidences.