Translation Strategy of Cultural Aspects in Lat Cartoons: The Kampung Boy

Abstract

This paper discusses the translation of the Malay cultural elements into Japanese by focusing on translation techniques used by the translator in a cartoon The Kampung Boy (Budak Kampung カ ン ポ ン ボ ー イ). The Kampung Boy is a graphic biographic book of the famous cartoonist, Dato 'Mohd Nor Khalid or better known as Dato' Lat, who appealed to the life of his childhood in a village in the Kinta Valley, Perak, in the 1950s and early in the year 1960, as well as the stories of family life in the rural and traditional customs. The book was first published in Malaysia in Malay and English in 1979 and was translated into several languages ​​, including Japanese. This paper is a qualitative study using comparative methods, analyzing cultural details based on translation theories, semantic theory, and sociolinguistic theory. Comparisons are also conducted to identify translation strategies adopted by translators in translating cultural elements in this work. This paper is guided by the translation strategy submitted by translation figures such as Newmark (1988) and Abdullah & Ainon Mohd (2007). Six (6) samples of cultural elements have been selected, i.e., related to birth, head shaving, circumcision, recite the Quran, traditional wedding, and games. The findings show that translators tend to use loan techniques with explanatory notes compared to other six (6) samples from twelve (12) selected samples. The sample translated with this loan strategy is a cultural element in custom culture/ideology. At the same time, five (5) samples use replacement techniques, and one (1) sample using a generalization strategy.