The Indonesian Translation of 'the Grapes of Wrath': a Cultural Analysis

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The Indonesian Translation of The Grapes of Wrath A Cultural Analysis Elisabet Titik Murtisari (Undergraduate paper sample) 1. Introduction The Grapes of Wrath, a novel written by John Steinbeck, explores the struggle of the Oklahoman tenant farmers who had been forced to leave their home due to agriculture industrialization in the 1930's. The novel is such an honest story about real life and humanity, so honest that it has been both praised and condemned for its revelation. Perhaps what has made the novel so powerful is that Steinbeck had a first-hand experience with the actual problem, which “wounded him deeply" (DeMott, 1992: xxiii). He started investigating as a journalist to write articles about what was going on, but he later found that articles were just not enough to express his devastating experience with the migrants. Initially he found that they had been given false offers of well-paid job opportunities as fruit pickers. It turned out, however, that they were just cheated and oppressed and the farming land was already fully occupied. The migrants had to fight for the day's food, which they often could not get. Many became ill and even starved to death while the land owners were enjoying the profits from their labor. This documentary like novel has been translated into Indonesian by Sapardi Djoko Damono, a well-respected writer in Indonesia. The translation, however, has not effectively transferred the novel’s messages. Indeed the novel is not easy to render into Indonesian. Firstly, Steinbeck’s language has a poetry-like quality which is difficult to reproduce. Secondly, the use of the local American dialect is very tricky. Damono has used the Jakartan colloquial dialect to replace it but despite their surface resemblance it fails to reflect the marginality of the poor farmers and the novel’s temporal aspect. Finally,

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