Dynamic Equivalence in Manga (Japanese Comics): Translation

into Indonesian from the Cultural Context

Eli Ningsih

, Emzir

, Rahayu S. Hidayat

Doctoral Program of Language Education, State University of Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia

Lecturer of Postgraduate, State University of Jakarta, DKI Jakarta, Indonesia

Keywords: Manga, Cross Culture, Translation, Dynamic Equivalence

Abstract: The study was focused on dynamic equivalence in Manga (Japanese Comics) that have been translated into

Indonesian. One of the significant activities in dealing with the high rapid of electronic information is

translation. In the recent years, artifacts of Japanese culture that have spread worldwide wasManga

translation. It has been heralded that manga translation has influenced the development of youth culture so

that a research was necessary. The objective of this study was to gain an in-depth knowledge of how to get

the proper dynamic equivalence of translation. It was particularly from the point of view cultural context to

get more proper translation result by comparing the source text with its translation. The methodology of this

research was a qualitative content analysis. The 135 data were taken from the comic dialogue translation of

TopengKaca which was translated from Japanese Manga “Garasu no Kamen”. From the data analysis, the

research was found that proper dynamic equivalence was taken from three important dynamic equivalence

principles: 1) to deal with the underlying meaning, it was not about the simplicity but about the complexity

of language; 2) to get the deep understanding of cultural aspect both source text and target text since the

message of a text was determined by both cultural and situational factors; 3) dynamic equivalence in

translation was an accommodation for linguistic and cultural differences; it was a relationship between the

surface and the deep structures of a language. This research concluded that misunderstanding of cultural

aspects would lead the translator to the wrong dynamic equivalent in the target language. The incorrect in

doing translation by the translator might lead comic translation young readers to make mistake of Japanese

cross-cultural understanding.

1 INTRODUCTION

In recent years artifact of Japanese popular culture

have spread worldwide, creating a global youth

culture that was attracting research interests. In

addition, it is one of the current diffusion information

and culture across borders nowadays “global

information society”. One of the most interesting

artifacts of Japanese culture is Manga (Japanese

comics) translation that have been translated

worldwide including Indonesia in the early 1990s.

Manga is associated with target audiences, for

example: Seinen (Manga genre for men), Josei

(Manga genre for women), Shounen(Manga genre

for boys), Shoujo (Manga genre for girls). Main

Manga themes may include romance, sword fights,

and intrigue, but the essential element is about the

importance of friendship amidst the confusion and

challenges of life. Most of the Manga genre is

fiction, only a few of Manga tell historical stories,

for example about survivors of the atomic bombing

of Hiroshima as KeijiNakazawa, Barefoot Gen: A

Cartoon Story of Hiroshima (published 1974) and

FumiyoKouno, Town of Evening Calm, Country of

Cherry Blossoms (published in 2004) (Donovan,

2010).

Manga translation is appealing and accessible to

elementary school and college students. We may see

the phenomenon of Manga fans clubs everywhere.

For example: ”Doraemon” fans club, “Naruto”

lovers, “Sailor Moon” maniac, “Topeng Kaca” fans

club etc. The “Manga maniac” in community of

“Sanggar Baca” in Jakarta are frequently found.

With thousands of Manga volumes published in the

Indonesian language over the past decades, teenagers

may enjoy the plenty of entertainment by reading it.

However, there is also a cultural distortion in the

diffusion of Manga fiction translation for those

554

Ningsih, E., Emzir, . and Hidayat, R.

Dynamic Equivalence in Manga (Japanese Comics): Translation into Indonesian from the Cultural Context.

DOI: 10.5220/0009014805540562

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Education, Language and Society (ICELS 2019), pages 554-562

ISBN: 978-989-758-405-3

Indonesian teenagers. Manga has just merely

influenced the fans in a negative way against the

original culture’s common sense. Moreover, the

worst case is the teenagers themselves never never

been realized of the tendency for themselves – the

cultural immerse by its Manga reading, for example

imitating the fashion of the Manga characters such as

“harajuku style”, “sailor moon”, or “pinion-mimi

hair style” etc. In this way, teenagers have been the

“central object” of Manga translation into the fashion

industry as well. Furthermore, Manga on the market

may be inappropriate for their young age. For

example Josei Manga is for women (adult) purposes

only, it is frequently consumed by teenager readers.

(Donovan, 2010) This situation requires a quicker

improvement in reversing the negative impact of

reading Manga translations to produce more results

for fans or readers especially for young Manga

lovers. This background has influenced me to

conduct further research on the impact of Manga's

translation into Japanese cross-cultural

understanding well. By highlighting the dynamic

equivalence of translation, this research is expected

to contribute to the improvement of translation

material to provide a thorough and accurate

understanding of aspects of Japanese culture. The

choice of dynamic equality of translations as my

research topic is due to the important role of dynamic

equality in handling translated and untranslated

translation material for cultural context. Then the

efforts of translator to apply the proper dynamic

equivalence in their translation works need a

professional skill level of translation. (Puspitasari,

2014) The Nida’s concept of intelligibility of

translation has been worldwide adopted particularly

in dealing with the cultural text and religious textual

translation. (Toury, 2013; Farghani,2014) This study

may differ from previous relevant studies in terms of

perspective viewpoints in taking advantage of the

concept of dynamic equality of translation in a

cultural context to accelerate the solution of cross-

cultural issues.This study tried to elaborate the

dynamic equivalence concept to be more applicable

in translation practices to enhance the theoretical

concept to be more practical purposed. This study

tried to propose three principal points of dynamic

equivalence to guide the translator to enhance the

quality of their translation result.

Manga by combining pictures and words will be

very easy to read in the same way as children's

picture books. It might employ sophisticated

narrative techniques and cover complex subjects that

are essential in developing information about the real

world. With this particular characteristic of Manga, I

do believe it must be something to do with Manga to

be explored more rather than just for ‘entertainment

reading’ itself. Instead of keeping away the young

reader from Manga fictions, it is more wise to

exploit Fiction of Manga to be ‘something’ that will

enrich the perspectives of the young readers.

(Tourance and Donovan, 2008) “Viewing translated

text as a system in their own right creates the

opportunity to recognize something different,

wonder about something that baffles, meet someone

interesting, learn something new, or see something

beautiful ” (Venuti, 2013). All of these are about the

real world. The entity of real world is the realm the

most attractive world. The real world is rich,

fascinating, and compelling (Muller, 2017). And

fiction will be the best genre that let children explore

and understand the real world (Jhonson, 2017).

To make the ‘fiction’ become part of the young

Manga fans ‘understanding’ of the real world, this

needs more effort to outline the research into the

current state of Manga fiction translators and their

current practices. This spotlight is focused on

teenagers who translate reading material as one

source. This is so young teenagers who translate

manga readers get information about Japanese

culture. As an object of research, I took one of the

well-known Manga comics that has become

Indonesian titled TopengKaca (The Glass Mask). In

point of fact, the fans of this manga’s translation

were not only teenagers (Marsellia, 2012).

The journey of exploration of the manga’s

translation book “TopengKaca” volume 1 is

beginning, but several errors in the translation have

been identified. The errors of translation were

suspected to lead the young teenager readers to have

wrong interpretation about the translated content of

the book. In this condition, this will lead them to the

wrong interpretation of their respective cross-

Japanese cultures.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

The dynamic equivalence is the concept of

translation which is introduced by Nida in the first

time. The essence of the concept is the intelligibility

of translation. Such intelligibility is not, however, to

be measured merely in terms of whether the words

are understandable and the grammatically

constructed, but in terms of the total impact the

message has on the one who receives it. The

translator, who is both receptor and source, first

receives message (M1), as if he was a Receptor 1

(R1), and then produces in a totally different

Dynamic Equivalence in Manga (Japanese Comics): Translation into Indonesian from the Cultural Context

555

historical – cultural context in a new message (M2),

which he hopes will be understood by the final

receptor (R2). The differences between the two

language and the two cultural setting are represented

by the different shapes. In other words, dynamic

equivalence is the restructuring form in different

syntax and lexicon in targeted language to preserve

the same meaning of source language. (Nida, 1974;

Robert, 2004) The relationship between the intention

of the source text and the responds of the first

receptors are very strong. The receptor background

in the translator's mind needs to prepare the message

in such a way as to obtain the highest level of

understanding. (Petrochiin,2014). The Nida’s

concept of intelligibility of translation has been

worldwide adopted particularly in dealing with the

cultural text and religious textual translation. (Toury,

2013; Farghani, 2014)

3 RESEARCH METHOD

The study used Qualitative – Content Analysis

research methodology. Qualitative research is a

research that investigate the quality of relationships,

activities, situations, or materials. (Fraenkel et al.,

2015) Furthermore, qualitative research is best suited

to address a research problem in which the variables

are unknown and need to be explored. Literature

might yield little information about the phenomenon

of study, and you need to learn more from

participants through exploration (Creswell, 2002)

The research methodology was related by

researchers as participants to have a more

comprehensive perspective (Sugiono, 2011). The

procedure of qualitative content analysis adopted six

steps qualitative research as Myring version such as

1) set up the research focus; 2) investigate the study

theory and concepts; 3) make categorizing and

coding of data; 4) set up summative test data

checking; 5) set up reliability checking; 6) analyze

and evaluate data (Emzir, 2011).

4 FINDINGS

This research is focused on the dialogue translation

in Topeng Kaca (The Glass Mask) comics Volume 1.

From the analysis outcomes of 135 data of dynamic

equivalence translation, it was found that poor

dynamic equivalence of translation occurred in

several dialogues. Each interpretation of incorrect

data is categorized and grouped according to each

potential misinterpretation of the content and its

misunderstanding about Japanese culture by the

comic translation readers, which can be seen as

follows:

4.1 IncorrectTranslation of Japanese

Cultural Materials

1)ST client:

ラーメンろ届けに

…

そうですかどうぞ

こちらへ

TT (Ind) : Mengantarmie, ya!?

Silakankesini...(pp.45)

TT (Eng) : Are you delivering the noodle? Please

come here.. (pp.45)

2)ST client :

ちわ！注文の年越しそばです

TT (Ind) :Itumiepasananku! (pp.23)

TT (Eng) : That is the noodle that I order! (pp.23)

3)ST Maya:

あでもよその出前の途中だっけ

ラーメンにぎょうざ早く持ってかないと

TT(Ind) :Tapikan, lagimengantarmie..

kalautakcepatdiantar..（pp.15）

TT (Eng) : But, I am delivering the noodles.. if it is

not delivered quickly.. (pp.15)

4)ST Maya’s friend :

あっ

好物のノリマキノ

……

リマキ食べる

TT (Ind) :Asyik, makanankesukaan! Mau

makanbekalku? (pp.83)

TT (Eng) :Huray, my favorite food! Do you want to

eat my lunch? (pp.83)

4.2 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Cultural symbols

5) ST dramaleaflet :

デュマフィス

作椿姫新春特別大公演

（主演）椿姫

姫川歌子

アルフレッド

黒木善郎その他豪華キャスト東京大都劇場

TT (Ind): KaryaDumavisch “Putri Bunga

Kacapiring” PagelaranspesialMusim Semi.

PemeranUtama :UtakoHimekawa. Alfred : Yoshiro

Kuroki. GedungKesenianTokyo(pp.40)

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TT. (Eng) : By Dumavisch “ Kacapiring Flower

Princess” the Special Spring Show. Main actor:

UtakoHimekawa. Alfred : Yoshiro Kuroki. Tokyo

Art Building (pp.40)

6)ST Alfred

白い椿をつけていたらその日はあなたのお相手

を

……

TT(Ind) :Kalauakumemakaibungakacapiringputih.

Akujadipasanganmu. (pp.54)

TT (Eng.) : If I wear the white Gardenia, I

become your pair (pp.54)

ST Alfred :

赤い椿はだめというしるし

私達の合図よわかって

TT (Ind) : Kalauakumemakaikacapiringmerah,

berartikitatakbisa. (pp.54)

TT (Eng) : If I use the red Gardenia, it means that

we cannot.

ST Alfred :

おおビオレッタビオレッタ

愛しているよ愛している．．．

TT (Ind) : Oh, Violetta..violetta..aku cinta

padamu..(pp.54)

TT (Eng) : Oh, Violetta.. Violetta.. Il love you.. (pp.

54)

4.3 Incorrect Linguistic and Story

Logic Translation

7) ST woman

みて！主演の姫川歌子の姫川監督とその娘の姫

川亜弓よ！

TT (Ind) : Lihat! Itupemeranutamanya,

UtakoHimekawadengansuaminya,

SutradaraHimekawa.Ituanakperempuannya, Ayumi!

(pp.51)

TT (Eng) : Look! The main role, UtakoHimekawa

with here husband, Director Himekawa. And

also his daughter, Ayumi!

4.4 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Currency

8) ST Receptionist:

入学会は

万円月謝は月

万上半期と下半期に

わけていただくとになっております上半期はで

すから

ヶ月で

万入学会ともあわせて

万入

団後にお支払いいただくことになっています

TT(Ind) : UangmasukRp 150,000,-!

untukiuranbulanandibagidua, semester awaldan

semester

akhir! Semester awalselamaenambulan, Rp

120,000,- jadi, biayakeseluruhanRp 270,000

untuktahappertama (pp.102)

TT (Eng) : The entrance fee is Rp. 150.000,- and for

the monthly charge will be divided by two, at the

early semester and final semester. The early semester

for 6 months will cost Rp. 120.000,-. So, the total

cost would be Rp.270.000,- for the initial step

(pp.102)

ST Maya :

万！？

万そんなに

…

だめだとってもだめう

ちにそんな大金あるわけない

270,000? 270,000...

TT (Ind) :Rp 270.000 ???takmungkinsebesaritu!

Akutakmungkinmendapatkanuangsebesar

itu...(pp.102)

TT (Eng) :Rp 270.000?? It cannot be that expensive!

I can not get that much amount of money.

(pp.102)

4.5 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Daily Life Customs

9) ST Woman 1:

おや

万福軒のマヤちゃんおふろからあがって一時間

も

TT (Ind) : Itu Maya

darirestoranHanayamasudahsatu jam

takkeluardaribakmandi..(p.78)

TT (Eng) : That Maya from Hanamaya Restaurant

hasn’t been back from the bathroom since

an hour ago (pp. 78)

ST Woman 2 :

湯冷めしちゃうよマヤちゃん

TT (Ind) :Maya, nanti masuk angin, lho!( pp. 78)

TT (Eng) : Maya, you will get cold!

4.6 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Politeness and Manner

10) STMaya’s mother:

ええですから

行きがけにちょっとよってわたしてやっ

てくださいね

Dynamic Equivalence in Manga (Japanese Comics): Translation into Indonesian from the Cultural Context

557

TT (Ind) :Kalaubegitu, tolongmampirsebentar,

ya...(pp. 84)

TT (Eng) : If so, please stop by for a moment..

ST Sugiko:

やあね

おばさんたらどうして自分でいかないの？

TT (Ind) :Bagaimana, sih!

Kenapanggakbawasendiri? (pp. 84)

TT (Eng) : How dare you! Why don’t you bring it by

yourself?

4.7 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Woman Tradition

11) ST Maya :

あいた！

TT (Ind) :aduuuhsakit ! (pp.8)

TT (Eng) : Ouch, it hurts!??????????????????

ST Maya’s mother

まったく不器用な子だねェボタンひとつ満足に

つけられないのかい！

TT (Ind) :Dasar, anakceroboh !

tidakpuasdengansatukancing , ya !（pp.８）

TT (Eng) : What a clumsy kid person you are! Arent

you satisfied with one button?

5 DISCUSSION

Dynamic Equivalence in the translated version of

“TopengKaca” was not achieved properly. Based on

the analysis of the patterns of formation of

misinterpretations made by translator. It can be said

that the mistakes are caused by the neglect of

dynamic equivalence translation concept. As stated

by Nida’s dynamic equivalence theory, if the

accuracy to be judged, the dynamic equivalent

translation will be not only more meaningful to the

receptors but also more accurate. Translator is the

informing agent of a translation. Mechanism of

meaning translation is a concept in which the

translator is the first person who got the information

(M1) in the form of text from the source

language(R2) which was delivered to R2 in the form

of M2 without distortion of word interpreting

problems. The translator must follow these three

main principles of dynamic equivalence of

translation in order not to make the translation

mistakes as the translator made. The elaboration of

these three principles as follow:

5.1 Principle no. 1: Translation to deal

with the underlying meaning

Every word has its own meaning which refers to

certain referent. It must be avoided to give randomly

uncertain meaning to a word because it potentially

influenced misinterpretation by the translated text

readers. Example of these mistakes will bring

negative impacts to all of the readers, for instance

reducing the potential of reader to get the actual and

realistic information about Japanese culture, such as:

culture assets which are formed in various traditions,

authentic food, seasonal symbols, expression of love,

and others. The discussion about the neglect of no.1

dynamic equivalence principles and its errors in

translation, followed by the risky misunderstanding

potentials impact to the readers were explained

below:

5.1.1 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Cultural Materials

The dialogue sample number (1) – (4) are the

samples of wrong translation of Japanese cultural

materials. The mistake was translating the name of

Japanese food like raamen, gyoza, toshikoshi soba,

norimakiand hambaaga bento. These Japanese foods

are popularly known outside Japan. In this case, the

translation of norimakias a “makanankesukaan”

(favorite food), same as hambagaa bento which is

translated as “bekalku” (my lunch) which is

completely wrong. The introduction of Japanese food

is not only measured by that. The experience of

enjoying Japanese food and knowing the names like

norimaki, hanbagaa bento, gyouza, raamen, soba

and others for people others for people other than

Japanese gives a deep impression about Japanese

characters. For those who have not gotten the

experience of it, they will be very happy to know

about Japanese food and soon they will have the

opportunity to try it. Hopefully, after reading the

comics, the cross-cultural sense will be created to

know the other nation’s cultural food and brings the

inspiration to introduce Indonesian food through a

story.

The mistakes in translating raamen, gyouza

ramen, toshikoshi soba as noodles, are definitely not

accepted. Especially, toshikoshi soba is specially

served only at new year. In worldwide, there are

various noodle types with different taste and name.

The connotation of noodles in Japan and Indonesia

are definitely different. In Indonesia, the rice cake

tradition in Lebaran day has been an authentic

characteristic as compulsory food that must be

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558

served by every Moslem family who celebrate

IedFitri. The same case goes to toshikoshi soba, in

which this noodle is specially served and eaten by

the family during the new year eve. It is better for

toshikosi soba to be translated as it is with translating

technique called pure borrowings, so the culture

understanding elements will not be ruined

(O’Loughan, 2013). The tradition of enjoying

toshikoshi soba during New Year’s eve will improve

the cultural knowledge of reader to know that Japan

as a developed country is still keeping their

traditions. Cultural diversity of a nation can be

represented by variations in food and certain cultural

traditions can be an asset of a nation. The translator

who sustain a pure borrowing translation technique

has one mission for effective cross-cultural

distribution and helps the reader to get the

experiences and knowledge of Japanese culture by

reading.

5.1.2 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

cultural symbols

The dialogue text (5) – (6) is the example of wrong

translation of Japanese cultural symbols. The mistake

was caused due to negative aspects of the cultural

aspects in the word translate like flower plantations

which are very related to the season when flowers

are grown up. The translation of TsubakiHimeto

become Puteri Kacapiring in Indonesian is wrong.

Because, the usage of Tsubaki in this manga has the

meaning to popularize the Japanese culture which is

known as Hanakotoba. Beside the distinctive

symbols of the country, Japan use the flowers such

as sakuraand other flowers to determine the soft

meaning to trigger the heart feelings and emotions

towards Japan stronger. Because of this, Japan is

known as Hanakotoba (flower word) which is often

displayed as popular modern Japanese culture such

as Manga and anime. Japan has 17 flowers which are

included in Hanakotoba. One of it is the Tsubaki

which grows in the end of winter season. and

indicates the entrance of spring season. There are

three different types of Tsubaki flowers, such as:

akaitsubaki (Red Camelia), hanakotobameaning:

love. Another type of Tsubaki flowers are

kiirotsubaki(Yellow Camelia) hanakotobameaning:

longing, and shiroitsubaki(White Camelia),

hanakotobameaning:faithfully waiting for love

(Kurniawan, 2016)

5.2 Principle no.2: To get the Deep

Understanding of Cultural Aspects

both Source Text and Target Text

Word meaning are bounding relation between text

and context. The context which attached to a word

appears because there is a supporting situation and

condition (Baker, 1991).The translator disobeys this

no.2 of dynamic equivalence principle. Because, It

has founded some mistakes within the translated text

such as mistakes in translating a cultural show habit

in Japan and the mistakes in currency translation.

The potential misunderstanding impacted to the

readers shown as follows:

5.3 Incorrect Linguistic and Story

Logic Translation

Examples of dialog texts translated (7) are linguistic

translations and incorrect story logic. This is because

it is very disturbing understanding of this story. The

dialogue appears when Maya is in the theatre

building and going to watch a colossal drama titled

“TsubakiHime” with the main actress was Utako

Himekawa. However, one of the audience sitting

behind Maya suddenly shouts loudly

みて！主演の姫川歌子の姫川監督とその娘の姫

川亜弓よ

! Look! The main drama player,

UtakoHimekawa with her husband, Director

Himekawa. And also his daughter, Ayumi! (pp. 51).

This dialogue is said by one of the audiences in the

drama show as stated in text (7) about the Tsubaki

Hime Colossal Drama Show leaflet with the main

actress UtakoHimekawa. There is a logical reverse

between text no. 7 and text no. 5 In the text no. 5, it

is stated that the colossal drama main actor will be

shown in the night when Maya Kitajima is watching

UtakoHimekawa. Meanwhile, it is stated in the

translated text no.7, UtakoHimekawa was also

present as an audience to watch the drama, attending

with her husband, Mr. Himekawa and her daughter

Ms.Ayumi. This is the most disturbing

misinterpretation of dialogue text to the logical

understanding of the story. And will lead the

understanding of the reader about Japanese theatre

performance. This misinterpretation should be

corrected as:

Correction :

みて！主演の姫川歌子の姫川監督とその娘の姫

川亜弓よ！

Look! That is the husband of this drama main actress

UtakoHimekawa, The movie Director, Mr.

Dynamic Equivalence in Manga (Japanese Comics): Translation into Indonesian from the Cultural Context

559

Himekawa,with his daughter, AyumiHimekawa are

watching the drama!

5.4 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Currency

The dialogue text sample (8) is the dialogue between

a drama class receptionist and Maya, 13 years old, a

young girl, who is interested in enrolling into the

popular drama class in Tokyo. Meanwhile, Maya

was coming from a small village in Yokohama. She

was very surprised to get the explanation from the

drama class receptionist about the high cost of drama

class tuition fee amounted to JPY 270,000. The

dialogue was wrongly translated. It has a wrong

translation and error terms matching because there is

no clear statement about the translating ideology

which referred the translating orientation of this

“TopengKaca” comic translation book. The wrong

domestication of translating ideology was created by

the translator by translating source language text of

the Japanese Yen currency to become Indonesian

Rupiah currency in the target language text without

doing the currency amount conversion. The mistakes

were placed at stating the nominal amount which

makes the logic of this story become a mess.

In fact, Newmark recommends translation

strategies related to culture including currency to use

the ideology of domestic translation. This is included

with some responsibilities and more consider, where

the currency will be adjusted (Newmark, 1981). In

this case, the translation of Japanese currency into

Indonesian in the year of 2019 which is 100 Japanese

Yen equals to 12.300 Indonesian Rupiah. So, when

the source language text states JPY 270,000, it must

be translated and converted to the currency of

Indonesian Rupiahs. When the foreignization

translation ideology is valid, the currency will be

kept as JPY and will not get converted to Rupiahs in

the target language text.

Error in currency translation from JPY 270,000 to

Rp. 270,000 is clearly a total error. Indonesian reader

who considers that Rp. 270.000 is a small amount of

money will think that there must be something

wrong with the living cost in Japan. From the source

text, it was stated that JPY 270.000 is a high price for

a drama class registration fee in Tokyo. This money

can be used for one whole Japanese family’s living

cost consisting of 4 persons in a month. Averagely,

the monthly salary of company’s manager in Japan is

JPY 270.000. If the text needs to be translated to

Rupiah, the currency needs to be converted from

Japanese currency to Indonesian currency, such as

JPY 270,000 X Rp123= Rp33.210.000 (thirty three

million and two hundred ten thousand rupiah). By

this, it can be defined that this amount of money is

certainly high for a drama class registration fee in

Indonesia as its high cost in Tokyo. So, the dynamic

equivalent is acceptable in translation logic.

5.5 Principle no.3: Dynamic

Equivalence in Translation was

Relationship between the Surface

and Deep Structure of a Language

Language relates to the language rules and

knowledge of a nation’s culture. The translator needs

to master the language rules and culture of the source

language or the target language to avoid various

mistakes as shown below:

5.5.1 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Daily Life Custom

Dialogue Text no. 9 is an example of wrong

translation of Japanese daily life custom. The

Dialogue happens in a common bathing area which

uses ofuro. A lady who is bathing in an ofurogives

comment about Maya, the character of this comic

who works as a servant in a noodle restaurant,

Hanayama. This lady was confused about how Maya

can be able to bathe inside ofuro for more than one

hour. She is worried that Maya will get cold if she

keeps bathing. In this dialogue text, the term of

ofurois translated as bathtub. The translated sentence

is not correct. This is because the statement is

expressed as a meaningless expression and reduces

the meaning of the actual source language of

sentences intended to express a moment between

ofurocustomer. In Japan, bathing in ofurois different

to the term of using bathtub to take bath custom in

Indonesia. It is better to make ofuroas it is, not being

translated as “bakmandi” (bathtub) because it will

cause misinterpretation of Indonesian reader who

doesn’t have a clue about Japanese bathing culture

by using ofuro. It is advised that the translation was

kept to be, “That Maya from Hanamaya Restaurant

hasn’t get out ofuro since an hour ago (pp.78). The

worry of that woman about Maya getting cold.were

being expressed clearly. In Japanese culture, the

friendly moment between surroundings is formed

naturally while using the ofurotogether. For young

readers in Indonesia, it will be difficult for them to

imagine about the culture of using ofuroas they will

find difficulties to understand the meaning of

togetherness in Japan.

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5.5.2 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

Politeness and Manner

The wrong translation of dialogue text (10) was an

example of wrong translation of Japanese politeness

and manner. An error occurred with variations of

sentences from the source text that did not match the

translation in the target language. This dialogue

depicts Maya's mother who is talking to Sugiko who

goes to the same school as Maya. Maya’s mom

means to leave the lunch for Maya with Sugiko who

is going to the school. In the source text, Maya’s

mother asks Sugiko’s help in the most polite way

ええですから行きがけにちょっとよってわたし

てやってくださいね

(pp.84)

“If so, please stop by for a moment.” (pp84)...

and was being answered by Sugiko by various

intimate sentence of a little girl with by calling

“obasan” (aunty) so the sentence sounds smoother.

But in the translation, it becomes “How dare you!

Why don’t you bring it by yourself?”. By translated

this way, Sugiko used various languages where in

this rough Indonesian language. The reader will

think that Japan has impolite attitude, when a person

talk recklessly to the elder.

In fact, Japanese Culture has the high awareness

to the hierarchy of politeness. In the society

structure, office manner, school hierarchy, and

governmental environment, the politeness must be

sustained. Younger people need to be vigilant about

the way they communicate with the elders, so an

employee needs to be more aware when talking with

their boss, etc.

5.5.3 Incorrect Translation of Japanese

woman tradition

Translated dialogue text (11)was an example of

wrong translation of Japanese woman tradition. The

translation mistakes occurred in their surface

structure and its deep structure. The dialogue was

shown when Maya’s mom is watching her daughter,

Maya, sewing a losing button of her cloth. When

Maya’s finger was pierced to the sewing needle, the

mother gave a comment

まったく不器用な子だねェボタンひとつ満足に

つけられないのかい！

, which the source text

defined that the mother was disappointed in Maya

for not being able to do the simplest thing such as

attaching loose button.

The wrong translated text created by the

translator stated, “What a clumsy daughter! Aren’t

you satisfied with one button?” (pp.8). Linguistic

errors are shown in the wrong interpretation of this

dialogue which has the potential to influence the

misinterpretation of this sentence. The translated text

has no meaning to deliver the cultural message

which was meant by the creator of the original text in

source language. In fact, Japanese culture has a clear

family education that every daughter has been taught

by her mother to do womanly things such as

cooking, washing dishes, washing clothes, sewing by

hand and others since five years old.

6 CONCLUSSION

To have a proper dynamic equivalence in translation,

three points of dynamic equivalence translation

principles must be adopted in every translation

activities. They are: 1) to deal with the underlying

meaning, which is seen as not discussing simplicity

but about the complexity of language; 2) to get the

deep understanding of cultural aspect both source

text and target text since the message of a text was

determined by both cultural and situational factors;

3) dynamic equivalence in translation was an

accommodation for the linguistic and cultural

differences.

Alongside entertainment, another purpose of

Manga is to be used as a media to introduce more

Japanese culture to the reader. With the high amount

of findings on deviations of terms matching or wrong

translation of text, these are potential to influence the

reader to have some misunderstandings upon the

background of story and the understanding failure to

the actual Japanese culture in real life.

The concept of translation principles proposed in

this study was parallel to our emphasis on the

importance of practical outcomes which draw our

attention to pragmatic questions of practice. It is

about the outcomes of the research and its

workability, and the process of inquiry and its life

enhancing effects.

6.1 Impacting to Human Capital

Advancement

The translated Manga for pedagogical purposes

intends to respond to questions about the purpose of

education which is to enhance understanding. The

concept of understanding is to make manga fans to

be able to use knowledge, not just knowing about

things. Understanding is about making connections

among and between things, about deeper, not only

the surface knowledge, and about greater

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complexity, not simplicity. Manga translated books

are the ideas to form the young reader of Manga to

become a critical thinker who have a strong

analytical sense. The critical senses were formed by

the Manga which are being considered as a trigger

and stimulus. The wider real applications for all

aspects of their environment and their daily activities

will automatically make them become great human

resources.

6.2 Impacting to Social and Economic

Advancement

The translated Manga allows us to examine how any

translated text is more than only as a transplanted

object. Translated Manga as a system of its own,

which will always be connected to Japan as the

country and culture in which it is fully developed,

but as a system that can also have an independent

momentum within different cultural contexts.

Translated Manga do more than just adding

something to the environment they have been

introduced to, they blend with it through overlap and

interaction, while they express and contain related

cultural information from their original source

culture In other words, nothing wrong with the

young reader Manga translation to become the part

of global culture and make them not being isolated in

the jungle. It will be challenges for Indonesian

country to become more competitive country in

every life sectors.

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