Strengthening Cultural Tourism at the Sidoarjo Museum of Cultural Arts Through Translation Practices
Keywords:
Museum translation, culture, tourismAbstract
This study examines the role of translation practices in supporting cultural tourism, specifically in understanding the strategies used by tourism practitioners in translating descriptive texts at the Sidoarjo Cultural Arts Museum. The focus is on the translation challenges faced by local artists, museum guides, and cultural experts with limited English proficiency in communicating their cultural heritage to international tourists. Data were collected through observation, translation practice, and interviews, and were analyzed using a descriptive qualitative method. The findings reveal that participants struggled to find an accurate English equivalent for Sidoarjo’s cultural terms, leading them to adopt functional translation strategies to preserve the meaning and message. Using machine translation tools proved helpful in translating culture-specific terms while also saving time. Moreover, the participants’ translation products showed improved narrative coherence, and their confidence also increased when delivering cultural narratives to international visitors. This paper highlights the importance of functional translation practice as a means of empowering local tourism practitioners and improving the accessibility of cultural tourism in regional museums.
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