Translation Techniques for Political and Military Terms in the Subtitles of al-Maḥallīyah al-Sūrīyah
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.8.1.27235Keywords:
content analysis, military terms, political terms, subtitling, translation techniquesAbstract
The growing volume of audiovisual content has made documentary subtitling a demanding form of translation. Among the terms that require particular attention are political and military expressions, which often carry ideological, cultural, and historical associations. This study examines how political, military, and combined political-military terms are translated in the Indonesian subtitles of Joe Hattab’s Arabic documentary al-Maḥallīyah al-Sūrīyah, using Molina and Albir’s taxonomy of translation techniques. The study uses a qualitative descriptive approach and content analysis. Nineteen specialized terms were taken from the 16-minute, 10-second documentary through repeated viewing and coding, before being classified according to the framework. The results show a clear pattern: established equivalent was the most frequently used technique (8 of 19, 42.1%), followed by literal translation (7 of 19, 36.8%), borrowing, and modulation (2 of 19 each, 10.5%). The selection of techniques was largely shaped by contextual considerations and the need for clarity in the Indonesian subtitles. The findings highlight the relevance of cultural awareness and a functional view of equivalence when rendering sensitive political-military terminology in subtitles, offering a practical reference for audiovisual translators and translator-training programmes.
Downloads
References
Anshori, Sakut. Penerjemahan Audiovisual. Curup: LP2 IAIN Curup, 2024.
Ashraf, Maha. “Subtitling Climate Change: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis Study of Key Structural Differences in the Subtitles of Two Climate Documentaries on Netflix.” The International Journal of Communication and Linguistic Studies 23, no. 1 (2024): 163–79. https://doi.org/10.18848/2327-7882/cgp/v23i01/163-179.
Ayyad, Ahmad. “Translating Peace Proposals in Times of Conflict.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translating and Interpreting Conflict, 379–95. London: Routledge, 2025. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003355847-27.
Ayyad, Ahmad Y. “Uncovering Ideology in Translation: A Case Study of Arabic and Hebrew Translations of the ``Roadmap Plan’’.” Journal of Language and Politics 11, no. 2 (2012): 250–72. https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.11.2.05ayy.
Baker, Mona. In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge, 2011. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203832929.
Cintas, Jorge Díaz, and Aline Remael. Audiovisual Translation: Subtitling. London: Routledge, 2014. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315759678.
Gao, Yinli. “Analysis of Eugene Nida’s Translation Theory.” International Journal of Education and Humanities 10, no. 1 (2023): 203–6. https://doi.org/10.54097/ijeh.v10i1.11120.
Gerzymisch Arbogast, Heidrun. “Introduction to Multidimensional Tranlation Research.” Saarbrücken: Advanced Translation Research Center (ATRC), 2008. http://translationconcepts.org/pdf/MultidimensionalTranslationResearch_Forli_05-2008.pdf.
Ghnaim, Feda et al. “Complexity in Subtitling: Interacting Factors Influencing Decisions on Sensitive Content from English to Arabic.” Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture 8, no. 2020 (2024): 770–85. https://doi.org/10.70082/esiculture.vi.855.
Gottlieb, Henrik. “Multidimensional Translation: Semantics Turned Semiotics.” In Proceedings of the Marie Curie Euroconferences MuTra : Challenges of Multidimensional Translation (EU High Level Scientific Conference Series), edited by Sandra Nauert and Heidrun Gerzymisch-Arbogast, 1–29. Saarbrücken, 2005. https://www.euroconferences.info/proceedings/2005_Proceedings/2005_Gottlieb_Henrik.pdf.
Hoed, Benny Hoedoro. Penerjemahan dan Kebudayaan. Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya, 2006.
Ibourk, El Mehdi, and Amer Al-Adwan. “Subtitling Virtual Reality into Arabic: Eye Tracking 360-Degree Video for Exploring Viewing Experience.” Lebende Sprachen 64, no. 2 (2019): 286–308. https://doi.org/10.1515/les-2019-0016.
Ilham, Muhammad Arifin et al. “Analisis Teknik Penerjemahan Subtitle Bahasa Arab ke Bahasa Indonesia pada Film Pendek Akun Instagram @arabiyatalks.” Jurnal Pesastra (Pendidikan Bahasa dan Sastra) 2, no. 1 (2025): 10–18. https://doi.org/10.36709/pesastra.v2i1.62.
Ilyas, Rahma, and Yayah Nurhidayah. “Penerjemahan Teks Audio Visual (Subtitling).” Jurnal Educatio FKIP UNMA 5, no. 2 (2019): 154–60. https://ejournal.unma.ac.id/index.php/educatio/article/view/398.
Kadhim, Kais A, and Nael F M Hijjo. “The Translator’s Agency and the Text Superstructure in the English-Arabic News Translation.” Journal of Intercultural Communication Research 50, no. 6 (2021): 610–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2021.1910067.
Kadi, Ghadah. “Subtitling Accounts of Conflict-Related Gender-Based Violence in Documentaries: Voices from Syria.” New Voices in Translation Studies 30, no. 1 (2025): 31–71. https://doi.org/10.14456/nvts.2025.2.
Kamila, Annisa Nabhan et al. “Dawr Tajribat "Bandongan” al-Taʿlīmīyah fī al-Qudrah ʿalá Tarjamat al-Mubtada’ wa-al-Khabar min Wajhat Naẓar Ṭalabat Qism Taʿlīm al-Lughah al-ʿArabīyah.” Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies 6, no. 2 (2024): 187–204. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.6.2.23367.
Khair, Baker Bani et al. “Functional Equivalence: A Top Priority in Translating Jordanian Culture-Bound Expressions.” Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics 10, no. 3 (2024): 278–86. https://ejal.info/menuscript/index.php/ejal/article/view/923.
Molina, Lucía, and Amparo Hurtado Albir. “Translation Techniques Revisited: A Dynamic and Functionalist Approach.” Meta 47, no. 4 (2004): 498–512. https://doi.org/10.7202/008033ar.
Munawar, Agil Husein Al et al. “Domestication and Foreignization Strategies in the Translation of Humorous Hadiths: An Inquiry into Translation Ideology.” Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies 7, no. 1 (2025): 63–84. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.7.1.26831.
Newmark, Peter. A Textbook of Translation. New York: Prentice Hall, 1988.
Pérez-González, Luis. “The Politics of Affect in Activist Amateur Subtitling.” In Citizen Media and Public Spaces, edited by Mona Baker and Bolette B. Blaagaard, 118–35. London: Routledge, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315726632-7.
Purba, Anita et al. “Translation: The Implementation of Molina and Albir’s Theory in a Movie from English into Indonesian.” Studies in Media and Communication 11, no. 5 (2023): 25–32. https://doi.org/10.11114/smc.v11i5.6011.
Puruhito, Gregorius Gyan. “Analisis Teknik Penerjemahan Kata Umpatan pada Subtitle Serial Netflix ‘Everything Sucks.’” In Seminar Nasional Linguistik dan Sastra (SEMANTIKS), 499–508. Surakarta: Universitas Sebelas Maret, 2021. https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/prosidingsemantiks/article/view/53039.
Rahmadi, Agustian. “Kesalahan Penerjemahan Google Translate Pada Hadis Arbain Berdasarkan Konteks Keagamaan (Kajian Akar Kata Dan Morfologi Turunan).” Alsina : Journal of Arabic Studies 4, no. 1 (2022): 69–94. https://doi.org/10.21580/alsina.4.1.8332.
Salem, Mohd Nour Al et al. “Cultural Nuances in Subtitling the Religious Discourse Marker Wallah in Jordanian Drama into English.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12, no. 1 (2025): 330. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04515-6.
Sárosi-Márdirosz, Krisztina. “Problems Related to the Translation of Political Texts.” Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica 6, no. 2 (2015): 159–80. https://doi.org/10.1515/ausp-2015-0012.
Sharkas, Hala et al. “Title Translation in Documentary Films: A Reception Study.” Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12, no. 1 (2025): 1542. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05844-2.
Shen, Min. “C-E Translation of Jiang Zilong’s Short Story Mr. Big on the Basis of Functional Equivalence Theory.” Journal of Language Teaching and Research 11, no. 3 (2020): 486–90. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.1103.18.
Shuttleworth, Mark, and Moira Cowie. Dictionary of Translation Studies. London: Routledge, 1997.
Suryawinata, Zuchruddin, and Sugeng Hariyanto. Terjemahan: Pengantar Teori dan Praktek. Yogyakarta: Kanisius, 2003.
Thawabteh, Mohammad Ahmad, and Amer Al-Adwan. “The Intricacies of Voicing Over Documentaries from English into Arabic: Implications for Translator Training.” Heliyon 7, no. 7 (2021): e07302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e07302.
Vinay, Jean-Paul, and Jean Darbelnet. Comparative Stylistics of French and English: A Methodology for Translation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1995.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright
The copyright of the received article shall be assigned to the publisher of the journal. The intended copyright includes the right to publish the article in various forms (including reprints). The journal maintains the publishing rights to published articles. Authors are allowed to use their articles for any legal purposes deemed necessary without written permission from the journal, but with an acknowledgment to this journal of initial publication.
Licensing
In order for Alsina: Journal of Arabic Studies to publish and distribute research articles, the editors need publishing rights (transferred from author to publisher). This agreement relates to the transfer/publishing copyright license to Alsina: Journal of Arabic Studies but the authors still have significant rights to use and share their published articles.
Alsina: Journal of Arabic Studies supports the need for writers to share, disseminate and maximize the impact of their research and their rights on any database. As a journal article writer, you have the right to various uses of your articles, including that by the institution or company where you work. Copyright can be used without the need for special permission. Authors who publish articles in the Alsina: Journal of Arabic Studies have broad rights to use their work for teaching and scientific purposes without requesting permission, including:
- Use by the author for lectures, presentations, or conferences, with distribution of copies to participants;
- Distribution to colleagues for research use;
- Use in compilations of the author's subsequent work;
- inclusion in a thesis or dissertation;
- Reuse of sections or excerpts from articles in other works (with full acknowledgment of the final article);
- Preparation of derivative works (other than commercial purposes) (with full acknowledgment of the final article);
- Voluntary posting on open websites operated by authors’ or writers' agencies for scientific purposes
When submitting a manuscript, authors do so on the understanding that if accepted for publication, the copyright for publishing (publishing right) of the article shall be assigned/transferred to Alsina: Journal of Arabic Studies.
Authors whose articles are accepted for publication will receive confirmation via email and sent a Copyright Transfer Agreement.
Accreditation 
In Collaboration with 
Visitors 
Article Template
Citation Statistics 
