Indonesia Education University
On Tuesday, 5 November 2024, I was invited to deliver a public lecture titled “World Literature and Its Translation” for the Indonesian Language and Literature Study Program, Faculty of Language and Literature Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. The event was held in a hybrid format. While students and lecturers gathered on campus, I joined via Zoom from Brussels, bridging geographical distance through literary dialogue.
My lecture focused on the intellectual, aesthetic, and ethical challenges of literary translation, particularly from French into Indonesian. As a French literary translator and translator of classical French poetry, I approached the topic not merely from theory but from lived practice. Translation, I argued, is not a mechanical transfer of meaning. It is an act of interpretation shaped by history, rhythm, cultural context, and the translator’s own literary sensibility.
One of the central case studies I presented was my translation of Les Fleurs du Mal into Indonesian, published as Bunga-Bunga Iblis. Translating Charles Baudelaire demands more than lexical accuracy. His poetry is built upon strict classical versification, intricate rhyme schemes, sonic orchestration, and layered symbolism. The translator must confront a fundamental question: how does one carry the architecture of a nineteenth-century French sonnet into the structure of the Indonesian language, which operates within a different poetic tradition?
I discussed specific obstacles such as preserving rhyme without distorting meaning, negotiating cultural references that may not resonate directly with Indonesian readers, and maintaining the musicality of the original text. In translating Baudelaire, one must constantly choose between formal fidelity and semantic clarity. The challenge lies in finding a balance where neither the spirit nor the structure is sacrificed. Rather than replicating form mechanically, I emphasized recreating poetic tension, tonal atmosphere, and emotional resonance.
Another significant dimension addressed was the translator’s responsibility toward both source and target cultures. Literary translation is a form of cultural mediation. It introduces readers to aesthetic systems beyond their own linguistic borders, yet it must remain accessible. I encouraged students to see translation as a creative and analytical act simultaneously, requiring deep literary knowledge, sensitivity to sound, and awareness of historical context.
The session was enriched by the presence of fellow speakers Prof. Yulianeta, Memen Durachman, and Zaky Mubarok. Their contributions expanded the discussion toward broader questions of world literature, pedagogy, and the position of translated works within Indonesian literary discourse. The exchange created a dynamic atmosphere, even within the hybrid format. Questions from students reflected genuine curiosity, particularly regarding the process of translating poetry and the intellectual discipline required to become a literary translator.
What made this lecture particularly meaningful was the recognition that many of the students present may one day become educators, writers, or translators themselves. Discussing Baudelaire and Bunga-Bunga Iblis in an academic setting reaffirmed that translation is not secondary to literature. It is literature in another form. The event concluded not as a monologue but as an ongoing conversation about how world literature travels, transforms, and continues to live through the work of those who dare to translate it.