Translation of nonstandard language and readability: Analysis of Joseph’s speech in an Indonesian version of wuthering heights

Nonstandard language varieties have long been used in literary works for a number of reasons. Translating nonstandard language varieties, however, can be challenging due to differences in what is considered nonstandard in different language systems and due to the socio-cultural information they contain. This study identifies the strategy, along with its benefits and drawbacks, adopted by A. Rahartati Bambang Haryo, the Indonesian translator of Wuthering Heights, one of the classic literary works famous for their use of different English language varieties. Data from the original work and the Indonesian version published by Qanita Publishing (2011) are analyzed by referring to the nonstandard language markers proposed by Englund Dimitrova (2014). The study finds that Haryo adopted the standardization strategy, which makes the markedness of Joseph’s speech and the socio-cultural information it conveys absent in the translation. Nonetheless, the readability of the translated novel improves significantly, particularly the parts originally written in nonstandard English varieties.