Cultural-Back Translation in Video Games: A Case Study of Cultural Specific Elements in A Space for the Unbound
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30872/calls.v12i1.25900Keywords:
A Space for the Unbound, video game translation, cultural-back translation, translation procedures.Abstract
Video games, as a rapidly expanding industry, have increasingly become a subject of translation studies, particularly as more titles are localized into multiple languages to reach global audiences. This paper examines the cultural-back translation of culture-specific elements in the Indonesian-produced video game A Space for the Unbound (2023), whose narrative was originally written in English and later translated into Indonesian. The study identifies culture-specific elements using Newmark’s (1998) categorization and analyzes the translation procedures applied based on Shirinzadeh and Mahadi (2014), from which the underlying translation ideology is inferred following Venuti (2017). The findings reveal that, out of 157 identified culture-specific elements, 52% were translated using procedures aligned with domestication. This indicates that the developers, particularly the narrative writers and the localization team, aimed to accommodate Indonesian players while preserving a balanced experience for English-speaking audiences. The study contributes to video game translation research by highlighting cultural-back translation practices and suggests that future research may examine inconsistent multilingual in-game assets as well as translations into other supported languages.
References
Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa. (n.d.). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) daring. Retrieved December 10, 2023, from https://kbbi.kemdikbud.go.id
Baker, M. (Ed.). (2010). Critical readings in translation studies. London, England: Routledge.
Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Cambridge free English dictionary and thesaurus. Retrieved December 13, 2023, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org
Gumilang, N. A. (2023, February 17). Malam Suro adalah awal pertama tahun baru pada kalender Jawa. Retrieved December 12, 2023, from Gramedia website: https://www.gramedia.com/best-seller/malam-suro/
Klaudy, K., & Heltai, P. (2020). Re-domestication, repatriation, and additional domestication in cultural-back translation. Across Languages and Cultures, 21(1), 43–65. doi:10.1556/084.2020.00003
Kolb, M. (2018, October 29). What is globalization? Retrieved December 6, 2023, from Peterson Institute for International Economics website: https://www.piie.com/microsites/globalization/what-is-globalization
Maisarah, I., Fitriani, S. S., Fahmi, R., & Daud, B. (2020). Advanced translation. Yogyakarta, Indonesia: Deepublish.
Mardatillah, A. (2022, January 24). Mengulas tugas dan fungsi jaksa pengacara negara. Retrieved December 10, 2023, from Hukumonline website: https://www.hukumonline.com/berita/a/mengulas-tugas-dan-fungsi-jaksa-pengacara-negara-lt61ee84de0c7f8/
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster dictionary. Retrieved December 7, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com
Mustinda, L. (2016, August 25). Ada rujak dan pasembur dari Singapura dan Malaysia yang unik. Retrieved December 10, 2023, from detikFood website: https://food.detik.com/info-kuliner/d-3282989/ada-rojak-dan-pasembur-dari-singapura-dan-malaysia-yang-unik
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. New York, NY: Prentice Hall International.
Shirinzadeh, S. A., & Mahadi, T. S. T. (2014). Foreignizing or domesticating tendencies in Pazargadi’s English translation of Hafez’s lyrics: A case study. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(20), 2350–2358. doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p2340
Sirani, J. (2023, August 2). The 10 best-selling video games of all time. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from IGN website: https://www.ign.com/articles/best-selling-video-games-of-all-time-grand-theft-auto-minecraft-tetris
Statista. (n.d.). Video games – Worldwide. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/digital-media/video-games/worldwide
Venuti, L. (1995). The translator’s invisibility: A history of translation. London, England: Routledge.
Yin-Poole, W. (2021, April 28). Microsoft’s gaming revenue shoots up 50%. Retrieved August 17, 2023, from Eurogamer website: https://www.eurogamer.net/microsofts-gaming-revenue-shoots-up-50-percent
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Every works in CaLLs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
