Rhymes and Reasons: Rendering Javanese Folksongs in the English Translation of Ahmad Tohari’s Bekisar Merah and Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-587-4_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Ahmad Tohari; Cultural Diplomacy; Folksongs; Translation Ideology; Translation Strategies

Abstract

Javanese folksongs, as an integral part of the rich oral tradition with cultural and philosophical significance, are frequently depicted in literary narratives to convey local wisdom and identity. Their poetic form, symbolic expressions, and culturally embedded meanings pose significant challenges for translation without fading their cultural resonance. This paper explores the translation ideologies and strategies used in rendering Javanese folksongs into English in two translated works of Ahmad Tohari—The Dancer, published by Lontar Foundation, and The Red Bekisar, published by Dalang Publishing. Drawing on Venuti’s theory of translation ideology and Baker’s framework of translation strategies, this research adopts a descriptive qualitative approach, analyzing folksongs from Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk and Bekisar Merah as source texts and their English translations as target texts. The analysis examines the impact of translation strategies on meaning transfer, cultural preservation, and accessibility for international audiences. Furthermore, it compares the approaches of the two publishers—one based in Indonesia and the other in the United States—to reveal how institutional context shapes translation decisions. The finding shows that the two translated works differ markedly in translation ideology and strategies. The Red Bekisar presents only English translations—likely influenced by the Indonesian paraphrases included in the source text—while The Dancer retains the original Banyumasan lyrics alongside their English translations. These differing approaches result in varied strategy use: The Dancer employs a higher frequency of translation using loan words with explanation, whereas both translations frequently apply translation using cultural substitution, more neutral or less expressive wording, paraphrase using related or unrelated words, and superordinate terms. Despite these differences, both publishers ultimately share the same objective: to introduce Indonesian literature and culture to international audiences. The study concludes that while their methods diverge due to institutional context, audience orientation, and editorial priorities, both translations contribute meaningfully to the global visibility of Indonesian cultural heritage and reinforce the role of literary translation as a form of cultural diplomacy.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Almira Ghassani Shabrina Romala
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/12
TI  - Rhymes and Reasons: Rendering Javanese Folksongs in the English Translation of Ahmad Tohari’s Bekisar Merah and Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on English Studies in Indonesia (ICONESIA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 214
EP  - 231
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-587-4_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-587-4_18
ID  - Romala2026
ER  -