TRANSLATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF AMERICAN CAPITALIST IDENTITY THROUGH RELIGIOUS TEXTS: CASE OF “DON’T FORGET THE SABBATH” AND “INGAT HARI SABAT”

Simon Ntamwana; Ida Rochani Adi

doi:10.22146/rubikon.v10i2.90520

TRANSLATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF AMERICAN CAPITALIST IDENTITY THROUGH RELIGIOUS TEXTS: CASE OF “DON’T FORGET THE SABBATH” AND “INGAT HARI SABAT”

https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v10i2.90520

Simon Ntamwana^(1*), Ida Rochani Adi⁽²⁾

(1) École Normale Supérieure de Bujumbura
(2)
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

This article investigates the construction of American capitalist identity by translating religious texts. Based on American Studies interdisciplinary method, the paper examines Crosby’s “Don’t Forget the Sabbath” and its Indonesian translation “Ingat Hari Sabat”. The focus of the study is to explore how and why the translation of the song lyric constructs American capitalist identity. The research is based on transnational American studies, poststructuralism, and Kristeva’s notions of revolt and nihilism. Schmidt’s model for conceptual metaphor (CM) translation and Kövecses’ notion of conceptual metaphor in American studies are employed. It is found that the rate of revolt is higher than that of nihilism in the translation. The revolt consists of the subversion of the American work ethic by resisting the concept of the Sabbath as a conduit into which capitalistic individualism is projected. Moreover, it is discovered that only the metaphors that manifest the concept of Sabbath as structure are annihilated because they reinforce evangelical and missionary traditions. The translation is, therefore, done to make American global evangelical Protestant culture fit the Indonesian local taste. Furthermore, it is found that Indonesian nihilism subdues the TT to another American national mythic narrative: manifest destiny.

Keywords

American capitalist identity; CM translation; nihilism; revolt

Full Text:

PDF

References

Arrington, A. (2021). “Translated” or “Transformed”: The Use of Western Hymns in the Evangelization of the Lisu of Southwest China. Religions 12(772). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090772

Collins, C. (2007). Homeland Mythology: Biblical Narratives in American Culture. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press.

Connor, M. and Menger, M. (2021). Strengthening Christian Identity through Scripture Songwriting in Indonesia. Religions, 12(873). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100873

Darian-Smith, E. and McCarthy, P. (2017). The Global Turn: Theories, Research Design, and Methods for Global Studies. California: University of California Press.

Davis, C. (2004). After Poststructuralism: Reading, Stories, and Theory. London and New York: Routledge.

De Crèvecoeur, J. J. H. (1782). Letters from an American Farmer and other Essays. D. D. Moore (Ed). (2013). Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Deloria, P. J. and Olson, A. I. (2017). American Studies: A User’s Guide. California: University of California Press.

Dunn, S. R. and Yeandle, L. (Eds.). (1996). The Journal of John Winthrop 1630-1649. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Edwards, M. (2019). From a Christian World Community to a Christian America:Ecumenical Protestant Internationalism as a Source of Christian Nationalist Renewal. Genealogy, 3(30), 1-13; doi:10.3390/genealogy3020030

Ezuoke, C.O. & Ijioma, P.N. (2021). The Semiotics of Christian Theological Translation and Interpreting. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Translation, 4(4). DOI. 10.32996/ijllt.2021.4.4.5. www.alkindipublisher.com/index.php/ijllt

Franklin, B. (2011). The Way to Wealth: Advice, Hints, and Tips on Business, Money, and Finance. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Gallagher, V. E. and Ashcraft, W. M. (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, Vol.1: History and Controversies. Westport: Greenwood Press

Gentzler, E. (2002). Translation, Poststructuralism, and Power. In M. Tymoczko and E. Gentzler (Eds.). Translation and Power, 195-219. Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Press.

Ghosh, C. (2013). The Politics of American Dream: Democratic Inclusion in Contemporary American Political Culture. New York: Palgrave McMillan.

Hansen, S.K. and Tuvel, R. (2017). New Forms of Revolt: Essays on Kristeva’s Intimate Politics. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Hernawan, W. (2016). Menelusuri Transmisi Gereja Masehi Advent Hari Ketujuh di Indonesia. Religious: Jurnal Agama dan Lintas Budaya. 1(1), 1-11 http://journal.uinsgd.ac.id/index.php/Religious

Hughes, R.T. (2018). Myths America LivesBy: White Supremacy and the Stories that Give Us Meaning, 2^ndEd. Chicago: University of Illinois.

Ka Lun Chan, K. (2021). Translating Global Western Worship Song in Local Chinese-Australian Congregational Space. Australasian Pentecostal Studies, 22(2), 208-235

Ka Lun Chan, K. (2022). Mediating through Translations from Hillsong Megachurch to the Hills Chinese Community. The Journal of Contemporary Ministry, Number 6, 39-64

Kirkland, J. (2019). Church of the Scattered: Navigating Cultural Identity in the Protestant Churches of Senegal. Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 3139.

Kövecses, Zoltán. (2005). Metaphor in Culture Universality and Variation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kristeva, J. (2005). Hatred and Forgiveness. Trans. J. Herman (2010) New York: Columbia University Press.

Kristeva, J. (2014). New Forms of Revolt. Journal of French and Francophone Philosophy - Revue de la philosophie française et de langue française, XXII(2), 1-19

Lotringe, S.(Ed.) (2002). Revolt, She Said: Julia Kristeva, An Interview by Philippe Petit. Trans. Brian O'Keeffe. Semiotext(E) Foreign Agents Series. E-MIT Press, Cambridge. www.semiotexte.org.

Margaroni, M. (Ed.). (2023). Understanding Kristeva: Understanding Modernism. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing Inc.

Marsoobian, A. T. and Ryder, J.(Eds.). (2014). The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.

Mauk, D. and Oakland, J. (2009). American Civilization: An Introduction, 5^th Ed. New York: Routledge.

Monteiro, M. (2022). Singing the “Wondrous Story” in Portuguese: The First Official Brazilian Baptist Hymnal, Cantor Cristão. Religions 13: 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010018.

Mora-Ciangherotti, F. A. (2022). Latin American Megachurches in a Changing Culture: An Integrative Review and an Exploration of Future Research Directions. Religions, 13(843). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090843

Noll, M.A. and Blumhofer, E.L. (2006). Sing Them Over Again to Me: Hymns and Hymnbooks in America. Alabama: The University of Alabama Press.

Northcott, M. (2004). An Angel Directs the Storm: Apocalyptic Religion and American Empire. London: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2004

Paul, H. (2014). The Myths That Made America: An Introduction to American Studies. Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag.

Perigo, J. (2021). Beyond Translated vs. Indigenous: Turkish Protestant Christian Hymnody as Global and Local Identity. Religions 12(905). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110905

Sawin, T. (2019). Ideology and Morality in Host Language Learning: American Protestants in the Former Yugoslavia. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 18(1), 39-54, DOI: le: https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2019.1570205

Schmidt, G. (2015). Applying Conceptual Metaphor Theory in Cross-linguistic and translation research. In Belaj, B.(Ed.). Dimenzije znacenja. Zagreb: Filozofski fakultet sveucilista u Zagrebu, 243-265.

Silva S. M. (2021). Transnational and Translational Aspects of Global Christian Congregational Musicking. Religions 12(732). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090732

Stallsmith, G. (2021). Protestant Congregational Song in the Philippines: Localization through Translation and Hybridization. Religions, 12(708). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090708

Stephens, J. (2022). A World of Sound and Rhythm Translating Alice Oswald’s Woods Etc. The Translator, 28(3), 295-307, DOI: 10.1080/13556509.2021.2018260

Steuernagel, S. M. (2021). Transnational and Translational Aspects of Global Christian Congregational Musicking. Religions, 12(732). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090732

Tymoczko, M. (2010). Enlarging Translation, Empowering Translators. London and New York: Routledge.

Vladimir, B. et Al. (2020). Adventists in Montenegro—From the Atheistic Psychosis of Socialism to the Post-Socialist Individuation of Adventism. Religions, 11(233), 1-14. DOI:10.3390/rel11050233

Wai-on, L. and Ng, R. (2020). Finding the Translator’s Voice: a Study of Translators’ Prefaces to Chinese Translations of Christian Texts in Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Translator, 26(2), 163-175, DOI:10.1080/13556509.2020.1776198

Williams, J. (2005). Understanding Poststructuralism. London and New York: Routledge.

Womack, D. F. (2015). Transnational Christianity and Converging Identities Arabic Protestant Churches in New Jersey. Mission Studies, 32, 250–270.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/rubikon.v10i2.90520