Translation Microstrategies Used by Visually Impaired Translators

Abstract

This paper discusses the microstrategies of translation (Schjoldager et al., 2008) used by visually impaired translators in translating English texts into Indonesian. There are three reasons for using these microstrategies: 1) they are more specific and thorough; 2) they outnumber other translation strategies; and 3) they can show the degree of creativity applied in a translation work (Yang, 2010). In order to collect the data, a translation task was assigned to two subjects of research in this study. The assignment was to translate a psychological text categorized as “very difficult to read” according to Flesch Reading Ease criteria. Six microstrategies were employed by the translators. The microstrategies and their total frequencies are as follows: direct transfer (9), direct translation (17), explicitation (6), paraphrase (3), addition (4), and deletion (4). Surprisingly, a visually impaired translator who has achieved better English proficiency and experienced translation training is less creative than the one who has not, i.e., the translator’s creativity does not imply the quality of translation.