UNS — Muhammad Yunus Anis, S.S., M.A., becomes the only lecturer from the Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta who passed the First Local knowledge Acquisition Program 2021. The lecturer from the Arabic Language and Literature, become one of the 84 selected books and audiovisual creations in a program hosted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences Program (LIPI) with a book entitled ‘Kesepadanan Tekstual Penerjemahan Arab – Jawa (Textual Equivalence of Arabic – Javanese Translation).’
With a total of 142 pages, the book comprehensively explains the equivalence theory and analysis of textual equivalence in Arabic-Javanese translation. The description is divided into seven chapters, where each chapter discusses a specific topic, which is interrelated to the rest of the chapters. In the first chapter, the author and researcher, Muhammad Yunus Anis, examines local language under the title ‘Overview of Local Languages in Indonesia.’ The following chapter discusses a similar topic but under detailed acculturation studies, which focused on the language acculturation between Arabic and Javanese. The third chapter contains the corpus (text data sources packaged in digital form) analysis in Arabic-Javanese translation. The discussion on corpus becomes a necessity in contemporary linguistic studies because the contribution of the corpus to the science of translation is undeniable.
The description of the equivalence theory is discussed comprehensively in the fourth chapter, followed by an analysis of textual equivalence in Arabic and Javanese translation in the fifth chapter. The following sixth chapter depicts the study of the theory of communicative dynamism in Arabic-Javanese translation. This study is a continuation of the discussion of textual equivalence but at a higher and complex level. Lastly, in the final chapter, Muhammad Yunus Anis provides an analysis on the annotation studies, which are seen as an important part in the study of Arabic and Javanese translation criticism.
To the uns.ac.id team, the lecturer from the Arabic Language and Literature states that his interest in studying the textual equivalence of the Arabic-Javanese translation is due to the language contact between the two languages. The real proof of the language contact is the use of ‘aksara pegon’ to write a translation of a book in Arabic into Javanese —or better known as ‘kitab kuning,’ which are often found in Islamic Boarding Schools, Indonesia. “We want to explore further how Arabic and Javanese contact,” explains Muhammad Yunus, on Wednesday (18/8/2021).
The next reason is due to the Islamic moral message contained in the Arabic – Jawi manuscript, such as ‘Bidayatul Hidayah’ manuscript. “We want to preserve it (Arabic – Javanese study) because some lecturers consider that such study has begun to be marginalized,” Muhammad Yunus added. He hopes that the studies on Arabic – Javanese literature will not only become a study material for students in salaf boarding schools but also as study material in the academic world, which has been equipped with translation theory.
Previously, Muhammad Yunus Anis had researched a similar topic, ‘Textual Equivalence in Arabic-Javanese Translation: An Effort to Preserve Local Wisdom and Translation Models.’ The 2019 research shows a unique textual equivalence in the Arabic – Javanese manuscript. “The unique thing is that he (the translator) translates it using the literal method, word for word method. Further, in the Arabic-Javanese translation, we found a patterned information structure. The patterns found to have certain themes such as topical themes, interpersonal themes, and textual themes,” Muhammad Yunus explains.
Working on the research of Arabic-Javanese translation since 2016, this achievement in the Local knowledge Acquisition Program by LIPI gives Muhammad Yunus a spark of hope. Because the program is committed to helping the distribution of scientific books —in this case, is the theory of translation, to make it more accessible to the public. The commitment to on the matters is manifested in the ease of access to get the book. The general public can download the book ‘Kesepadanan Tekstual Penerjemahan Arab – Jawa’ for free from the lipipress.lipi.go.id.
Even though the book is distributed for non-profit purposes, Muhammad Yunus Anis reveals that he is pleased with the opportunity to share knowledge with the public. “I hope this book can be beneficial for students, researchers, or forwarded to other researchers,” he states. Humas UNS
Reporter: Alinda Hardiantoro
Editor: Dwi Hastuti