Cover not available

Article In: Babel: Online-First Articles

(Self-)censorship of sex-related language in translated young adult novels from English into Indonesian depicting sexual assault

ORCiD logo with link | University of Western Australia
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This paper investigates censorship and self-censorship in six translated English young adult (YA) novels containing depictions of sexual assault published in Indonesia between 2005 and 2020. Situated within Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) and employing a qualitative approach, this paper describes the censorship strategies and sociocultural aspects involved in translating sex-related language (SRL) employed by several publishing houses in Indonesia. The results reveal that textual and paratextual censorships are the most common practices. These censorships and self-censorships are largely influenced by the ideal readers, those within the age range specified on the cover of the novels, and sociocultural aspects. Sex-related language is often omitted or toned down, and the age classification for YA novels is frequently raised to align with target sociocultural expectations. This study also uncovers the dynamics of translators and editors when working on the censorship of novels. Finally, this paper sheds light on the practice of publishing translations of English YA novels in Indonesia, focusing on censorship in translation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
  • 3.Literature review
    • 3.1The translation of sex-related language in YA literature
    • 3.2Censorship and self-censorship
  • 4.Findings
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Who regulates the censorship in Indonesia?
    • 5.2Forms of censorship in the translation of sex-related language in Indonesian YA Novels
    • 5.3Factors influencing censorship decisions in Indonesian YA novel translations
    • 5.4Translators-editors dynamics in Indonesian publishing
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
References (32)
References
Alvstad, Cecilia. 2019. “Children’s Literature.” In The Routledge Handbook of Literary Translation, edited by Kelly Washbourne and Ben Van Wyke, 159–80. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ávila-Cabrera, José Javier. 2023. The Challenge of Subtitling Offensive and Taboo Language into Spanish: A Theoretical and Practical Guide. Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baer, Brian James, and Serena Bassi, eds. 2024. Translation and Censorship: The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Sexuality. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
, eds. 2024. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Sexuality. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biernacka-Licznar, Katarzyna, and Natalia Paprocka. 2020. “From Outside the Iron Curtain: Censorship and Translations of Western Children’s and Young-Adult Literature in People’s Poland under Stalinism (1948–1956).” History of Education and Children’s Literature 15 (2): 289–307. [URL]
Borodo, Michał, and Jorge Díaz-Cintas. 2025. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Young Audiences. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Charles, Amanda. 2019. “Sexual Assault and Its Impacts in Young Adult Literature.” Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism 12 (2). [URL]
Colantonio-Yurko, Kathleen C., Henry Cody Miller, and Jennifer Cheveallier. 2018. “But She Didn’t Scream”: Teaching About Sexual Assault in Young Adult Literature.” Journal of Language and Literacy Education 14 (1). [URL]
Djenar, Dwi Noverini. 2015. “Style and Authorial Identity in Indonesian Teen Literature: A ‘Sociostylistic’ Approach.” In Language and Identity across Modes of Communication, edited by Dwi Noverini Djenar, Ahmar Mahboob, and Ken Cruickshank, 225–48. De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dyła-Urbańska, Joanna. 2020. “Taboo in the Polish Translation of Joanna Nadin’s the Rachel Riley Diaries.” In Negotiating Translation and Transcreation of Children’s Literature: From Alice to the Moomins, edited by Joanna Dybiec-Gajer, Riitta Oittinen, and Małgorzata Kodura, 197–208. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Griguta, Loana-Dora. 2013. “Translating Young Adult Literature: Problems and Strategies John Green’s ‘An Abundance of Katherine.’” Graduate thesis. Babeș-Bolyai University.
Guo, Yijiao. 2022. “Censorship in Translating Swear Words into Chinese: Using The Catcher in the Rye as an Example.” Bandung 10 (1): 135–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hamzani, Achmad Irwan, Kanti Rahayu, Sanusi Sanusi, Selviany Selviany, and Havis Aravik. 2020. “Inconsistency Adult Age Restrictions in Indonesian Law Construction’.” In Borobudur International Symposium on Humanities and Social Sciences, edited by Muji Setioyo. BIS-HSS. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Joosen, Vanessa. 2006. “From Breaktime to Postcards: How Aidan Chambers Goes (or Does Not Go) Dutch.’” In Children’s Literature in Translation: Challenges and Strategies, edited by Jan Coillie and Walter P. Verschueren. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamb, Kate. 2020. “Indonesia Bans Hardline Islamic Defender’s Front Group.” Reuters, 30 December 2020. Accessed 3 January 2025. [URL]
López, Marisa Fernández. 2005. “Children’s Literature in Franco’s Spain: The Effects of Censorship on Translations.” ANILIJ: Anuario de Investigación en Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (3): 39–51.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Merkle, Denise and Brian James Baer. 2025. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Censorship. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nugroho, Andreas. 2009. “Kejaksaan Larang Lima Buku.” BBC Indonesia, 24 December. Accessed 3 January 2025. [URL]
Pattee, Amy S. 2004. “Disturbing the Peace: The Function of Young Adult Literature and the Case of Catherine Atkins’ When Jeff Comes Home.” Children’s Literature in Education 35 (3). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pitkäsalo, Eliisa, and Riitta Oittinen. 2025. “On Translation and Censorship of Children’s Literature during the Cold War in Europe.” In The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Censorship, edited by D. Merkle and Brian James Baer, 475–88. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 2016. Translation Solutions for Many Languages: Histories of a Flawed Dream. Bloomsbury Academic.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saldanha, Gabriela, and Sharon O’Brien. 2014. Research Methodologies in Translation Studies. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Santaemilia, José. 2005. “The Translation of Sex/the Sex of Translation: Fanny Hill in Spanish.” In Gender, Sex and Translation: The Manipulation of Identities, edited by José Santaemilia, 117–36. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. “The Translation of Sex-Related Language: The Danger(s) of Self-Censorship.” TTR. Traduction, Terminologie 21 (2): 221–52. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2015. “Translating Sex (Uality) from English into Spanish and Vice-Versa: A Cultural and Ideological Challenge.” Atlantis 37 (1): 139–56.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2019. “A Reflection on the Translation of Sex-Related Language in Audio-Visual Texts: The Spanish Version of J.K. Rowling’s the Casual Vacancy.” Perspectives, Studies in Translatology 27 (2): 252–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toury, Gideon. 2012. Descriptive Translation Studies — and Beyond. Revised ed. John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valdez, Susana, and Sonia Vandepitte. 2021. “Exploring a Two-Way Street: Revisers’ and Translators’ Attitudes and Expectations About Each Other in Biomedical Translation.” In Industry Practices and Cognitive Processes, edited by Maarit Koponen, Brian Mossop, Isabelle S. Robert, and Giovanna Scocchera, 148–64. Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yuliasri, Issy. 2017. “Translators’ Censorship in English–Indonesian Translation of Donald Duck Comics.” Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics 7 (1): 105–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zaixi, Tan. 2019. “The Fuzzy Interface between Censorship and Self-Censorship in Translation.” Translation and Interpreting Studies 14 (1): 39–60. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zlatnar Moe, Marija, Tamara Mikolič Južnič, and Tanja Žigon. 2021. “‘Who Determines the Final Version? The Roles of Translators.” Language Revisers and Editors in the Publishing of a Literary Translation’. Across Languages and Cultures 22 (1): 14–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue