Pragmatic Equivalence in Syarah Al-Hikam: An Attempt to Explore the Value of Humanism Based on Religious Text Translation Products

Abstract

This study examines the equivalence at the pragmatic level between Arabic (L1) and Indonesian (L2). The main task of pragmatic equivalence is to elaborate the way an "utterance" is used in a communicative situation and the way readers interpret it in context. The main focus in the study of pragmatics is on the way language is used based on Austin’s Speech Act Theory (SAT). In this case, pragmatic equivalence is applied to the data in the form of the explanatory text (syarah) of Muhammad Ramadhan Said al-Buthi's al-Hikam aphorisms. By exploring the speech acts based on the cultural context present in the text, it is hoped to obtain the values of cross-cultural humanism in religious books. This research uses a qualitative linguistic design by applying Spradley's model of analysis, namely: domain analysis, taxonomy analysis, componential analysis, and cultural theme analysis. The domain analysis in this case has the task of mapping the utterances and the translation techniques in the source text (Arabic) and the target text (Indonesian) in Al-Hikam. In general, this study found three dominant translation techniques in translating speech acts, such as: conventional equivalent, amplification, and reduction translation techniques. Then the taxonomy analysis categorises the utterances on a macro level, such as according to translation method, translation ideology, shifts in form and meaning, and translation quality. Meanwhile, the componential analysis attempts to find the meeting point between the pragmatic equivalence in al-Hikam's aphorisms and the values of humanism.