Translation Microstrategies Used by Visually Impaired Translators

Abstract

This paper discusses the microstrategies of translation (Schjoldager et al., 2008) used by visually impaired translators in translating English texts into Indonesian. There are three reasons for using these microstrategies: 1) they are more specific and thorough; 2) they outnumber other translation strategies; and 3) they can show the degree of creativity applied in a translation work (Yang, 2010). In order to collect the data, a translation task was assigned to two subjects of research in this study. The assignment was to translate a psychological text categorized as "very difficult to read" according to Flesch Reading Ease criteria. Six microstrategies were employed by the translators. The microstrategies and their total frequencies are as follows: direct transfer (9), direct translation (17), explicitation (6), paraphrase (3), addition (4), and deletion (4). Surprisingly, a visually impaired translator who has achieved better English proficiency and experienced translation training is less creative than the one who has not, i.e., the translator's creativity does not imply the quality of translation.

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“…Meanwhile, Nugroho et al (2016) write almost similar topic. They study the translation microstrategies used by two visually impaired translators.…”

Visually Impaired Novice Translators in Using Translation Techniques

“…In the context of translation, the researchers found the fact that blind people have also entered the realm of translation by becoming professional translators. However, the existence of visually impaired translators has not received sufficient publication or attention, both from the general public and from researchers in the field of translation (Nugroho et al, 2016).…”

“…As far as the researchers are aware, the research that uses a blind translator as the subject is only done by Nugroho et al (2016) and Suryaningtyas & Cahyono (2018). Both of them analyzed the results of translations carried out by the blind, but the translations were not based on a special assignment.…”

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