The translator’s culture influences the process of conveying messages from a source language, which is reflected in how they comprehend, view, and re-express the message in the target language.
Cultural differences between the source and target languages always mark this process.
Such differences place translators in a dilemma.
One cultural aspect that translators must convey is linguistic politeness.
This was stated by Professor Sajarwa, a French Literature lecturer, during his inauguration speech at Universitas Gadjah Mada’s Senate Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.
Professor Sajarwa was inaugurated as a professor in translation linguistics at UGM’s Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB UGM) after delivering his speech titled ‘Transformation of Face Management in Translating Politeness from French to Indonesian.’
Professor Sajarwa began his speech by discussing linguistic politeness inherent in every language.
Linguistic politeness refers to ways of behaving and speaking in a society that are considered social norms.
It is also related to the concepts of rationality and face, which can be divided into positive and negative faces.
“Linguistic politeness is a way to maintain and save face, as there are speech acts that threaten face,” he said.
He highlighted the differences in linguistic politeness between French and Indonesian.
Professor Sajarwa gave an example of the pronoun ‘vous’ (meaning ‘you’) in French, which shows equality between the speaker and the addressee, though their interpersonal relationship might not be close.
In contrast, in Indonesian, the pronoun ‘Anda’ (‘you’) implies a lack of equality between the speaker and the addressee.
The use of ‘Anda’ creates social distance, making the relationship less egalitarian.
“The use of the pronoun ‘Anda’ results in a change in politeness. In the source text, the speaker and addressee are on equal footing, whereas in the target text, there is social distance between them,” Professor Sajarwa explained.
In addition to linguistic politeness, Professor Sajarwa discussed face management, which refers to how individuals maintain, improve, or protect their self-image in front of others.
Face can be interpreted as how others perceive us. Different cultures have their own norms and values regarding face management.
Professor Sajarwa mentioned the differences between Western and Eastern cultures in this aspect.
“Americans, with their individualistic culture, tend to use a positive face, whereas Japanese, Koreans, and Indonesians, with their collectivist cultures, tend to use a negative face,” Professor Sajarwa said.
He concluded his speech by expressing hope that studies on linguistic politeness and face management could be expanded.
He believes there are still many topics within this field that can be explored, especially in relation to issues like gender and power.
“This topic is still an uncharted field, wide open for future research,” Professor Sajarwa concluded.
In her speech, Professor Sulistiowati, Chairperson of UGM’s Academic Senate, mentioned that Professor Sajarwa is one of 525 active professors at the university.
He is the 26th active professor at the faculty level out of the 52 professors FIB UGM has had.
Author: Tiefany
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Lintang
Photographer: Firsto