A translator must not only be

competent in the source and

target cultures. Discuss some of

the cultural differences (e.g.:

individualism vs. collectivism,

high power distance vs. low

power distance, directness vs.

indirectness ) between the Anglo

society and the Malay society and

how such differences may impact

translation.

NUR SHAHIRAH BINTI

AZMAN

NUR ILYANA BINTI CHE

YUSOFF

NUR SYAZWANI BINTI

MOHD ZOLKIFLI

NUR AISYAH FATIMAH

BINTI AZMAL

“The ideas, customs,

and social behavior of

a particular people or

society”.

CULTURE

The meaning of a word lies on the culture of the societies not necessarily literal translation in order to give understanding to the target audience, i.e. “let’s go for a drink”.

Translation is a shift between two cultures not between two languages if not, there will be misunderstanding, i.e. “when you enter a cow’s barn, moo and when you enter a goat’s shed, bleat”.

Translators must take into account rules that are not strictly linguistic but cultural

GENERAL IMPORTANCE OF CULTURE IN

TRANSLATION

•Individualism vs Collectivism

•High Power Distance vs Low Power

Distance

•Directness vs Indirectness

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ANGLO

SOCIETY AND MALAY SOCIETY

“An English-speaking

person, especially

white North American

who is not Hispanic or

French descent”.

THE DEFINITION OF THE ANGLO SOCIETY

“A member of a people inhabiting Malaysia, the

northern Malay Peninsula, and parts of

the western Malay Archipelago”.

THE DEFINITION OF THE MALAY SOCIETY

INDIVIDUALISM

The social behavior is guided by one’s

personal attitude and motivation

They prioritize self reliance as an

important virtue, since they’re master

of their own fate. (Independent)

They would most likely be driven by

their own self-motivation and

rationality, not tied to a group or

community.

COLLECTIVISM

The social behavior is in collectivist

culture, guided by a group. It is

expected for people to be identified

and work well in a group.

They prioritize social relations, self-

sacrifice and family integrity.

(Interdependent)

They find their rightful place in one

community, and would usually reflect

whether their acts fit the society or

not.

ANGLO SOCIETY MALAY SOCIETY

VS

ANGLO SOCIETY

(INDIVIDUALISM)

MALAY SOCIETY

(COLLECTIVISM)

Communication behavior

“You, get out of my house!”

In Anglo culture, there is a clear

emphasize on the one-to-one

communication that reflects

individualism, which is the usage of

you and my.

“Keluar dari rumah ini.”

In Malay culture, it will most likely be

translated as above, with no

mention of whose house it belongs

to, or to whom the dialog refers to.

Basically, the house belongs to a

family, not an individual.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t do that.”

In Anglo culture, even in giving

advice, the individualism is clear to

be seen with the usage of I and you.

“Kita tidak sepatutnya berbuat

demikian.”

In Malay culture, the ‘weinclusive’ is

widely used, as in giving advice we

prefer to use kita (we).

DIRECT

More confrontational,

since achieving the goals

is more important.

Would ask the hearer to do

something directly.

INDIRECTNESS

Non-confrontational

behavior, usually being

subtle in their conversation

as in being polite.

Would ask the hearer

without being too direct

because of the need to be

polite.

ANGLO SOCIETY MALAY SOCIETY

VS

DIRECTNESS IN ANGLO

SOCIETY

INDIRECTNESS IN MALAY

SOCIETY

“Mummy can I have a new bicycle?”

Because achieving the goal is more

important, society with directness

culture would voice out their desire

straight to the point.

“Ibu, anak Mak Jah sebelah rumah ni

ada basikal baru. Basikal tu cantik

sangat, lepas ni dia boleh pergi ke

sekolah sendiri. Dia kata seronok dapat

naik basikal baru..”

But in Malay society, people tend to be

beating around the bush, talk around

expecting the other would understand.

When disagreeing with something, they

would voice out their thought. This is

good in order to achieve what they want

without being misunderstood, but there

would be conflict among the people

with such directness.

Even though they disagree with

something, they won’t directly say “No, I

disagree.” but would be in silent, head

hung low and some other non-verbal

act that indirectly show their

disagreement. They’d be

misunderstood, but less verbal conflict

would occur.

ANGLO SOCIETY

HIGH POWER DISTANCE

The willingness to accept a difference in power over

other members of a culture

Inequality in power is considered the norm.

MALAY SOCIETY

LOW POWER DISTANCE

Society does not emphasize on people’s status, power or wealth.

Expects that all should have equal rights

VS

The differences between Malay society and Anglo society can be

clearly seen here :

Malay Society (High Power

Distance)

Anglo Society (Low Power

Distance)

The usage of ‘Abang Long, Kak

Ngah’ in kinship.

This situation shows that elders

have power over the younger ones.

The difference in individual status is

obvious.

In Anglo society, they prefer being

called only by their first name

among families.

There is no clear emphasize on

people’s status as they expect

everyone should be given the same

right.

In a formal situation, for example:

Students are required to call their

lecturers according to the status.

Collectivists cultures being high in

power distance explains the need of

However, in Anglo society, calling

the lecturers using their first name is

considered as the norm.

This relates to individualists cultures

being low in power distance.

THE IMPACTS OF SUCH DIFFERENCES ONTO TRANSLATION:

Divided into two aspects:

During the process of

translating

If no deep understanding of target culture

is gained, it will be a hard processFinal product (outcome)

The product of translation will be

something that the target audience

won’t understand because it is not

something that is not culturally

understood

http://www.translationdirectory.com/articles/article1507.php

• They themselves (the translator) go beyond

language and focus on the interaction between

translation and culture, on the way culture impacts

and constraints translation and on the larger issues

of context, history and convention. Therefore, the

move from translation as a text to translation as

culture and politics is what they call it a Cultural

Turn in translation studies and became the ground

for a metaphor adopted by Bassnett and Lefevere in

1990.

• This may cause more severe complications for the

translator than do differences in language structure.

• Cultural studies brings to translation an

understanding