From French into Malay via English: The Indirect Translation of Henri Fauconnier’s Malaisie into Malay

An indirect translation is a translation in language C which is produced not fromthe source text in language A but based on a mediating text in language B which itself isa translation of the source text. One issue arising from indirect translation is the issue offidelity, that is, the extent to which the translation reflects the original source text due to thepresence of the mediating text. The aim of this paper is to examine this issue by focusingon a translation in Malay entitled Nurani Tanah Melayu, the English mediating text, TheSoul of Malaya and the French source text, Malaisie. More specifically, the paper aimsto determine the types of relationship that exist between the three texts and to establishthe changes made by the translator in the process of translating. Ultimately, the aim is toestablish whether the process of indirect translation produces a translated text that deviatesfrom the original text and if so, whether the mediating text plays a role in the deviationsthat occur. For this purpose, a comparison is carried out between the three texts with theaim of establishing the similarities and differences between them. The findings indicatethat the deviations from the French source text in the Malay translation are not necessarily due to the mediating text. Additionally, in cases where the Malay translation reflects the French source text, the adherence to the French text is not necessarily due to the assistance the mediating text.