An Analysis of Domestication Strategies and Cultural Terms in Agatha Christies The

A.B.C. Murders
Fiksi Relita Padma Lestari
Nanda Alisha Sandi
Abstrak
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui strategi penerjemahan domestikasi dan
istilah-istilah budaya yang ditemukan pada novel terjemahan bahasa Indonesia Agatha
Christie yang berjudul The A.B.C. Murders. Dalam meneliti strategi penerjemahan dan
istilah budaya, metodologi penelitian ini bersifat deskriptif kualitatif karena bersinggungan
dengan data berbentuk teks. Selain itu, dalam menganalisis data, kerangka teori yang
digunakan adalah Pedersen (2005) mengenai strategi penerjemahan dan Newmark (1988)
mengenai istilah-istilah budaya. Hasil yang ditemukan adalah strategi penerjemahan yang
paling banyak digunakan adalah cultural equivalent sebesar 61,48%, sedangkan untuk
istilah budaya, social culture sebesar 42,37% paling banyak ditemukan. Dari hasil yang
didapat, diharapkan penelitian ini dapat bermanfaat bagi mereka yang tertarik dalam
memelajari istilah-istilah budaya yang terdapat pada teks terjemahan.
Kata Kunci: Terjemahan, Strategi Penerjemahan, Istilah-istilah Budaya
Abstract
This present study seeks to investigate translation strategies in domestication and
cultural terms found in Agatha Christies The A.B.C. Murders Indonesian version. In order
to describe the result, descriptive qualitative method was used as the methodology of this
study because it dealt with data in the form of text. Furthermore, Pedersens (2005)
translation strategies continuum and Newmarks (1988) cultural terms are used as the
theoretical frameworks. The result shows that domestication are found mostly in the form
of cultural equivalent translations, 61,48%, whereas for cultural terms, social culture is
mostly occured, 42,37%. By conducting this study, hopefully, it will give insight for those
who are interested in studying translation, specifically for those who are interested in
studying cultural terms in translated version of text.
Keywords: Translation, Domestication, Cultural Terms
1. Introduction
1

1.1. Background
Many readers seem to be unsatisfied with the result of translated version of the
novel because it contains terms that are not properly translated. This can be because
many terms have no meaning in the target language or culturally different with the
target language. Therefore, translators understanding of foreignization and
domestication terms plays an important role, so that it will help the reader get the
meaning of the word. According to Brisset (n.d, cited in Venuti, 2000) translation is
dual-act of communication which involves source and target text. Thus, translation
deals with the study of lexicon, grammatical structure, communication studies, and
cultural context of source language and target language (Larson, 1984, cited in
Purnama, 2013). In translating a text, there are two basic strategies termed by Venuti
(1995), foreignization and domestication which are very important to be understood
by the translator in order to make the target language reader understand and get the
whole meaning of the story in the novel. According to Venuti (1995, cited in Aini,
2011), domestication can be defined as follows:
Domestication is an ethnocentric reduction of the foreign text to target
language cultural values; bring the author back home while foreignization is an ethno
deviant pressure on those (cultural) values to register the linguistic and cultural
difference of the foreign text, sending the reader abroad.

In other words, domestication strategy is the type of translation which adopts

transparent and fluent style to minimize the strangeness of foreign text for the
readers, while foreignization is a production of target language text which breaks
target conventions by retaining something original of the foreignness. (Shuttleworth
& Cowie, 1997 cited in Aini, 2011).
In a novel, target language readers may find some lexical items which are not
familiar and do not exist in their language, such as characters name (names of
national dishes, culture, and etc.), idioms, slang words, figures of speech, and etc.
According to Newmark (1988), cultural terms are words, phrases, or expressions
used by certain culture to express something related to their culture. There are five
categories that have been classified by Newmark, ecology, material culture, social
culture, social organization, gestures and habits.

In line with statement above, this study was conducted in order to examine
translation strategies used and domestication cultural terms found in Agatha
Christies The A.B.C Murders Indonesian version by employing Pedersens (2005)
continuum translation strategies and Newmarks (1988) cultural terms.
1.2. Statement of the Problem
In order to conduct the study, there are two guideline research questions as
follows:
1. What kind of cultural terms are found in Agatha Christies The A.B.C Murders
Indonesian version?
2. What kind of domestication translation strategies are found in Agatha Christies
The A.B.C Murders Indonesian version?
1.3. The Objectives and Contribution of the Study
Considering the research questions above, the main purposes of this study are:
1. to identify what kind of cultural terms found in Agatha Christies The A.B.C.
Murders Indonesian version.
2. to identify what kind of domestication translation strategies found in the Agatha
Christies The A.B.C. Murder Indonesian version.
This study, thus, is intended to give contribution for those who are interested
in studying translation, specifically for those who are interested in studying cultural
terms in translated version of text.
2. Theoretical Framework
2.1. Translation
Translation typically can be defined as transferring meaning from source
language (SL) to target language (TL) in the form of written text in order to fulfill
needs of communication. It is a bridge for target language readers to get the meaning
from the text they read. Thus, it can be said that the purpose of translation is to
reproduce various kinds of texts like literary, philosophical, religious, and scientific
texts and make them available to the readers (Ordudari, 2007).
Larson (1984, cited in www.EnglishPts.ir) points out that translation is
classified into two types, form-based and meaning-based. Form-based translation is
known as literal tranlation and follows the form of source language. In this type of
translation, both of source and target language have similar grammatical form. Using
form-based translation, for idioms or figures of speech in particular, however, will
result in unnatural or non-sense translation. In contrast, meaning-based translation
deals with idiomatic translation that communicates meaning of the source language.
Besides, in this type of translation, the order and grammatical forms are modified. As
a result, the language sounds natural, and many target readers are not aware that what
they are reading is translated text.
3

2.2. Domestication
In translating narrative texts, the translator, consciously or not, uses several
strategies in order to convey the meaning from SL to TL. According to Venuti (2010),
domesticating method means that the translator ...accommodates the foreign text to
target-language cultural values. This method is used when the translator faces a
problem when certain value in SL challenges his/her belief or ideology in TL, so that
s/he conveys the similar meaning using other words that fit to TL cultural value.
Pedersen (2005, cited in Purnama 2013) classifies some categories as follows:
a. Cultural Equivalent
Cultural equivalent considers cultural elements in the target language. In order to
be known by the target language reaaders, the translator replaces the cultural
elements from the source language. The example isthe concept of lenght miles
in English and kilometers in Indonesia.
b. Omission
Omission deals with deleting element of source language with nothing. Without
reducing the meaning, it is done in order to avoid unimportant words like
repetition found in the source language.
c. Globalization
In globalization, the translator uses or replaces element of source language with
something more general known by the target language readers.
d. Translation by More Specific Words
This strategy deals with replacing element of source language by using more
specific words. In other words, it specifies the original element.
e. Creation
In creation, the translator recreates the element of source language by adding
affixes or preposition of the target language.
f. Equivalent Translation
In equivalent translation, the translator replaces the element of source language
with its equivalent.
2.3. Newmarks Cultural Terms
Adapting Nida, Newmark (1988) categorizes translation of cultural words as follows:
a. Ecology
Ecological features include flora, fauna, winds, plains, the season, and
hills of various sizes (moor, dune, etc). It deals with unknown or irregular
lexical item which is likely not to be understood denotatively or figuratively in
translation. Normally, the unknown lexical item would be translated using another
term that is understood by the target readers. The example is naturalization of the
flora lexical item mango in English into mangue in French.
b. Material Culture
4

Material culture can be categorized into four aspects including foods

(zabaglione), clothes (anorak), houses and towns (kampong), and
transportation (rickshaw). Those categories, according to James (2002), are
further complicated due to the foreign lexical items presented in the text. As the
result, it may be necessary for the translator to translate certain lexical item to
avoid ambiguity. The example is food terms in French such as hors tfoeuvre ,
entree, and eniremets that have similar meaning, starter, first, and main
course if they are translated literary to English. In order to avoid such
ambiguities, it is recommended for the translator to use neutral terms that are
equivalent and understandable to the general readers, so that the meaning can be
conveyed.
c. Social CultureWork and Leisure
In social culture category, it is necessary to distinguish between denotative
and connotative problems of translation. There has no problems of translation if
certain lexical item can be transferred. The example is trade that has some
terminologies such as supermarket, hypermarket, centre commercial, and etc.
However, it would be a problem if there has no approximate one-to-one
translation in translating work or leisure terms. The example of work culture is
archaic expressions such as the masses, the people, and the proletariat that
have connotative problems. For the proletariat, it used to have emotive meaning,
while today it is no longer used as such since there are many property owners in
developed countries. However, the masses and the people can have positive or
negative connotative meaning such as the collocation mass with media into
mass media that the meaning is no longer as factory worker. For leisure
activities, in addition, the example is European national game such as cricket,
petanque, boule, bull-fighting, and hockey.
d. Social OrganizationPolitic, Administratives, Religious, Customs, Artistic,
Procedures, and Concepts
In social organization, social and political life are written in institutional
terms such as the name of parliament ('Senate') and the title for the head state
(President, King, and Prime Minister). For name of ministries, they are
translated literally using apropiate description or known as cultural equivalent.
The example is Treasury that becomes Finance Ministry. In addition, the name
of political or party buildings and some ministries may be known by their familiar
name such as White House, Pentagon, Westminster, and etc.
5

e. Gestures and Habits

In translation, gestures and habits are often described in non-cultural terms
to avoid ambiguities. It is because certain gestures and habits which may occur in
some cultures may not appear in other cultures. The example is kissing finger tips
to praise or greet someone. That cultural reference imply certain knowledge and
attitudes toward it (James, 2002).
3. Methodology
This study used descriptive qualitative method in order to answer the research
questions. Descriptive qualitative method was used because this study dealt with data in
the form of text. Besides, according to Gay L. R (n.d cited in Anggraeni, 2004),
descriptive method is a method of research that involves collecting data in order to test
hypothesis or to answer question concerning the current status of the subject of the study
3.1. Data Collection
In collecting the data, this study followed several steps such as:
1. collecting the culture-specific terms from the original and translated
version of the novel.
2. classifying the culture-specific terms into five groups based on Newmarks
(1988) theory included ecology, material culture, social culture, social
organization, and gesture and habits.
3. identifying the translation strategies whether the culture-specific terms are
domestication or foreignization.
4. labelling the strategies used in translating the culture-specific words.
3.2. Data Analysis
In order to analyze the data, Pedersens (2005) continuum translation strategies and
Newmarks (1988) cultural terms were employed. In addition, the data were
categorized as follows:
Table 3.2.1 The Example of Material Culture in The A.B.C Murders
Source Language

Target Language

I asked if in this Aku

super-modern
hostelry

Strategies
bertanya, Cultural Equivalent

apakah

dalam (Houes)

they bangunan

managed to induce supermodern

hens to lay square mereka
eggs? (p.15)

Translation

membujuk

ini

sanggup
ayam

betina
untuk menghasilkan
6

telur persegi.(p.11)
Table 3.2.2. The Example of Social Cultures in The A.B.C. Murders
Source Language

Target Language

Translation

Strategies
"He's a mountebank," Si Tukang Obat, Cultural Equivalent
said Inspector Crome. ujar
(p.217)

Inspektur (Kinship)

Crome, (p.221)

Table 3.2.3The Example of Social Organization in The A.B.C. Murders

Source Language
"An

alphabetical

Target Language

Translation

Kelainan kejiwaan

Strategies
Translation by More

complex," said Dr. yang berhubungan

Specific Words

Thompson

dengan abjad, ujar (Concept)

thoughtfully. (p.83)

Dr.

Thompson

penuh

perhatian.

(p.82)
Table 3.2.4 The Example of Gestures and Habits in The A.B.C. Murders
Source Language

Target Language

Translation

Strategies
waktu Cultural Equivalent

When on his round Pada

he tried the door of meronda,

dia (Habits)

the shop and found it mencoba membuka

unfastened. (p.36)

pintu

toko

dan

mendapati pintu itu

tidak terkunci. (p.14)
4. Findings and Discussion
In this novel, the domestication strategies are mostly occured in the form of cultural
equivalent 56%, then followed by equivalent translation 36%, Creation 6%, and
translation by more specific words 2%. Besides, for cultural terms, it is found that social
culture are mostly occured within 38%, then followed by mterial culture, 28%, social
organization 20%, and gestures and habits 14%.
4.1. Material Culture
7

Material culture can be categorized into four aspects including foods (zabaglione),
clothes (anorak), houses and towns (kampong), and transportation (rickshaw).
Those categories, according to James (2002), are further complicated due to the
foreign lexical items presented in the text. As the result, it may be necessary for the
translator to translate certain lexical item to avoid ambiguity. The examples of
material culture found in the data source are as follow:
Table 4.1. The Examples of Material Culture in The A.B.C Murder
Source Language

Target Language

"No, because there

are no curiously
twisted daggers,
(p.33)

Tidak menarik
karena tak disertai
pisau belati yang
dihunjamkan
secara
mencurigakan,
(p.13)

He wore pince-nez,
was very dry and
spare-looking (p.67)

Ia memakai kaca
mata tanpa gagang,
amat kaku, dan
wajahnya tirus
(p.65)

I asked if in this Aku

super-modern
hostelry

Translation
Strategies
Creation

Translation by More
Specific Words
(Material Culture)

bertanya, Cultural Equivalent

apakah

dalam (House)

they bangunan

managed to induce supermodern

hens to lay square mereka
eggs? (p.15)

ini

sanggup

membujuk

ayam

betina
untuk menghasilkan
telur persegi.(p.11)
basket-work chairs kursi-kursi rotan Cultural Equivalent
of

exceeding yang tidak terlalu (Artifact)

discomfort
(p.93)
Come

into

nyaman

Untuk

diduduki (p.92)
the Mari ke ruang

Cultural Equivalent
8

snuggery. (p.99)

keluarga (p.98)

(Houses)

The examples above show that mostly in translating material culture, the translator
uses cultural equivalent strategy. Cultural equivalent replaces the source languages
cultural element with the target languages cultural element. The translator exposes
the cultural element of the source language, so it will be more familiar with the target
language reader (Pedersen, 2005 cited in Purnama, 2011). To avoid ambiguity,
material culture such as foods (scrambled eggs), artifact (basket-work chairs),
houses and towns (hostelry), and transportation (rickshaw) need to be translated
into more culturally familiar words. An example such as snuggery which means a
room to get your body become warmer, is translated into ruang keluarga it is
because in the target languages culture, there is no such room which function to
warm the cold body. But, family use to gether in the living room or ruang keluarga.
This translation strategy makes the cultural term be more understandable for the
reader.
4.2. Social Culture
Social culture term has no problems of translation if certain lexical item can be
transferred. The example is trade that has some terminologies such as supermarket,
hypermarket, centre commercial, and etc. Another example of work culture is
archaic expressions such as the masses, the people, and the proletariat that have
connotative problems. Social culture mainly deals with kinship and profession terms.
From the data, it is found that in translating the social culture, the translator mostly
uses cultural equivalent strategy. The examples are as follow.
4.2. The Examples of Social Cultures in The A.B.C. Murders
Source Language

Target Language

Strategies
a Si Tukang Obat, Cultural Equivalent

"He's
mountebank,"
Inspector

said ujar

Inspektur (Kinship)

Crome. Crome, (p.221)

(p.217)
I didn't want to put
the

Translation

mistress

saya tak ingin lebih Cultural Equivalent

out menyulitkan

(Kinship)

more than may be." Nyonya. (p.44)

(p.49)
"You
blarsted

shut

your Tutup
mouth," Bangsat,

mulutmu, Cultural Equivalent

teriak (Kinship)
9

roared

the

(p.70)
"Pull

giant. raksasa itu (p.68)

yourself Tahanlah

dirimu, Cultural Equivalent

together, old lady. Bu. Cobalah untuk (Kinship)

Try

to

hold

up, tenang, Bu, desak

Mother," urged her

suaminya. (p.100)

husband. (p.101)
One of my men is on Salah
the phone (p.136)

satu

anak Cultural Equivalent

buah saya berjaga (Kinship)

terus

di

telepon

(p.137)
From the examples above, it can be seen that the translator use cultural equivalent
srategy to translate social culture terms. As has been explained above, cultural
equivalent replaces the source languages cultural element with the target languages
cultural element. For example my men is translated to anak buah saya, if the
translator translates the word literally, the target language reader might not understand
what does it really mean and might not get the picture of the story. Another example is
old lady which is translated become bu in the target language culture, calling
someone bu is enough to show respect and kinship, however the addition of old
in the begining is not nesessary.
4.3. Social Organization
The institutional terms of a country reflects its political and social life. Usually, the
title of a hed state, the name of a parliament, or name of ministries are literally
translated and provided more descriptive.
Table 4.3. The Examples of Social Organization in The A.B.C. Murder
Source Language

Target Language

"An

Strategies
Kelainan kejiwaan Creation

alphabetical

complex," said Dr. yang berhubungan

Thompson

dengan abjad, ujar

thoughtfully. (p.83)

Dr.
penuh

(p.82)
the first time people orang

Translation

(Concept)

Thompson
perhatian.
yang

baru Equivalent

saw my friend they pertama kali melihat

Translation
10

were

always sahabatku,

(Concept)

disposed to consider cenderung

him as a joke of the

menganggapnya

first water. (p.92)

He is not likely to

remeh. (p.92)
Tampaknya ia tidak

Equivalent

blaze a trail that can meninggalkan jejak Translation

be followed straight yang dapat segera (Concept)
away. (p.76)
ditelusuri. (p.74)
Good
heavens, Masya
Allah, Cultural Equivalent
Poirot," I cried, "this Poirot,

teriakku, (Religious concept)

is a matter of life ini soal hidup dan

and death. (p.134)
mati (p.136)
I love a blonde (who aku mencintai

si Cultural Equivalent

comes from

rambut pirang (yang (Religious concept)

Eden (p.185)

datang dari Firdaus

(p.189)

As can be seen in the examples above social organization terms from the data
mostsly religious concept and cultural concept. The phrase an alphabetical
complex is translated in to kelainan kejiwaan yang berhubungan dengan abjad
here, the traslator used creation strategy. Creation strategy recreates the element of
source language by adding affixes or preposition of the target language. (Pedersen,
2005). Alphabetical complex concept is unfamiliar in the target languages
concept. In the excerp above, the translator translated the phrase an alphabetical
complex into Bahasa Indonesia as kelainan kejiwaan yang berhubungan dengan
abjad, the translator recreated the translation by adding Indonesian conjunction
yang. In the next example, the translator translated the words using Islamic terms
such as good heavens which is translated into Bahasa Indonesia as masya Allah
this is more equivalent with Indonesian culture which majority people are muslim.

4.4. Gestures
In translation, gestures and habits are often described in non-cultural terms to
avoid ambiguities. It is because certain gestures and habits which may occur in some
cultures may not appear in other cultures.
11

Table 4.4. The Examples of Gestures and Habits in The A.B.C. Murder
Source Language

Target Language

Translation

Strategies
waktu Cultural Equivalent

When on his round Pada

he tried the door of meronda,

dia (Habits)

the shop and found it mencoba membuka

unfastened. (p.36)

pintu

toko

dan

mendapati pintu itu

The

tidak terkunci. (p.14)

superintendent Inspektur
itu Equivalent

shook

his

head menggelengkan

Traslation

kepalanya

(Gesture)

gravely. (p.82)

dengan

wajah muram. (p.81)

At once the contact Segera
hubungan Equivalent
was

broken.

Mr. terputus. Mr. Cust Traslation (Gesture)

Cust dropped his menatap ke bawah

eyes and

dan

spoke irritably and berbicara

tiba-tiba
dengan

fretfully. (p.293)

gusar

dan

Suddenly with a

menerocos. (p.298)
Tiba-tiba dengan

Translation by More

brief decisive nod of

anggukan kecil

Specific Words

the head he crossed

meyakinkan dia

(Gesture)

the room (p.21)

berjalan
menyeberangi
ruangan (p.15)

The translator used equivalent translation strategy and translation by

more specific words to translate gesture and habit terms. According to
Pedersen (2005, cited in Bayu, 2011) equivaent translation strategy translates
the source language terms become more equivalent in the target language. For
example, dropped his eyes, drop according to Echols and Shadily (1989)
means menjatuhkan and eyes means mata if it is translated word by
word it will be menjatuhkan mata which is not acceptable in Bahasa
12

Indonesia. The gesture describing someone who is looking down to

something, here the translator translated it to menatap kebawah which is the
equivalent words to describe the terms and can be more accepted by the reader
in target language. Another example is nod which is according to Echols and
Shadily (1989) means angguk (an) is translated into anggukan kecil here, the
translator used more specific word to explain the gesture.
5. Conclusion and Suggestion
After conducting the study and gaining the data from the novel, domestication are
found mostly in the form of cultural equivalent translations, 61,48%, whereas for cultural
terms, social culture is mostly occured, 42,37%. In addition, the translator tends to do
meaning-based translation in order to gain meaning that is understood by the readers by
making it equivalent culturally.
By conducting this study, hopefully, it will give insight for those who are interested in
studying translation, specifically for those who are interested in studying cultural terms in
translated version of text. Furthermore, it is suggested for next researchers to conduct
studies by employing theory proposed by another experts or using the same theory,
Newmark (1988), by focusing on certain cultural term in order to see translators
intention of using that certain term.
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