An indirect translation is a translation that is carried out based on a text which is also a translation. The source text for the indirect translation is therefore the text that mediates between the indirect translation and the original or ultimate source text. Considering the fact that an indirect translation is twice removed from the ultimate source text, a pertinent issue arising from this practice is whether there are differences between the indirect translation and the ultimate source text because of the use of the mediating text. This paper aims to explore this issue by comparing and analysing three texts: a French source text entitled Le Petit Prince, the English mediating text entitled The Little Prince, and an indirect translation in Malay entitled Putera Cilik. A comparison of the three texts first necessitates the mapping of each sentence of the Malay translation to its counterparts in English and in French. An analysis is then carried out on the sets of texts to determine whether there are discrepancies between the Malay translation and the French text. The findings show that generally, the Malay translation closely reflects the French source text. Where discrepancies do exist between the Malay translation and the French source text due to adjustments made in the translation, the English mediating text does play a role. It is, however, not necessarily the sole contributing factor, as some of the discrepancies can also be attributed to the translator of the target text.

Keywords: indirect translation; mediated translation; mediating text; literary translation; The Little Prince

Al-Harahsheh, A.M., & Al-Omari, M.M. (2019). Self-translation: A faithful rendition or a rewriting process? Haikal’s Autumn of Fury as an example. 3L: The Southeast

Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 25(1), 144-157. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2019-2501-11

Allwood, A. (2021). (Semi) peripheries in context - indirect translation of novels into Swedish 2000-2015. Stridon - Journal of Studies in Translation and Interpreting,

(1), 57-77. https://doi.org/10.4312/stridon.1.1.57-77

Assis Rosa, A., Pięta, H., & Maia, R.B. (2017). Theoretical, methodological and terminological issues regarding indirect translation: An overview. Translation Studies,

(2), 113– 132. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2017.1285247

Coll-Vinent, S. (1998). The French connection: Mediated translation into Catalan during the interwar period. The Translator, 4(2), 207–228.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.1998.10799020

de Saint-Exupery, A. (1943). Le Petit Prince. Reynal & Hitchcock.

de Saint-Exupery, A. (1943/1995). The Little Prince (K. Woods, Trans.). G.K. Hall & Co.

de Saint-Exupery, A. (2015). Putera Cilik (E. Mahmud, Trans.). Peanutzin.

Dybiec-Gajer, J. (2012). The challenge of simplicity: Le Petit Prince in Polish and English translation from the perspective of critical point analysis. In J. Górnikiewicz, I.

Piechnik, & M. Świątkowska (Eds.), Le Petit Prince et les amis au pays des traductions. Études dédiées à Urszula Dąmbska-Prokop (pp. 110-125). Księgarnia

Akademicka.

He, C. (2001). Chinese translations of Henrik Ibsen. Perspectives: Studies in Translation Theory and Practice, 9(3), 197-214.

https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676x.2001.9961417

Hsieh, Y. (2017, January 31). The matter of forking consequences: Translating Saint-Exupéry Little Prince. World Literature Today. Retrieved 15 December, 2021, from

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/translation-tuesday/matter-forking-consequences-translating-saint-exuperys-little-prince

Ivaska, L., & Huuhtanen, S. (2020). Beware the source text: Five (re)translations of the same work, but from different source texts. Meta, 65(2), 312–331.

https://doi.org/10.7202/1075838ar

Kadiu, S. (2016). David Bellos’ indirect translation of Ismail Kadare’s The File on H: A contextual analysis. IJLL International Journal Literary Linguistics, 5(3), 1–24.

https://doi.org/10.15462/ijll.v5i3.79

Kittel, H., & Frank, A.P. (1991). Introduction. In H. Kittel, & A.P. Frank (Eds.), Interculturality and the historical study of literary translations (pp. 3–4). Erich Schmidt

Verlag.

Landers, C.E. (2001). Literary translation: A practical guide. Multilingual Matters.

Lanza-Mariani, A. (2021, March 2). How the little prince came to the Americas – and lost his rose on the way. Supertext. Retrieved June 11, 2021, from

https://blog.supertext.ch/en/2021/03/how-the-little-prince-came-to-the-americas-and-lost-his-rose-on-the-way/

Le Petit Prince. (n.d). Retrieved May 2, 2021, from https://www.thelittleprince.com/

Leppänen, S. (2013). A case in translation archaeology: Explanatory peritexts in Finnish translations of Japanese literature. In Pokorn, N. & Koskinen, K. (Eds.), New

Horizons in Translation Research and Education 1 (pp. 45–59). Joensuu.

Linder, D. (2014). Reusing existing translations: Mediated Chandler novels in French and Spanish. JoSTrans – Journal of Specialized Translation, 22(2), 57–77.

Li, W. (2017). The complexity of indirect translation: Reflections on the Chinese translation and reception of H. C. Andersen’s Tales. Orbis Litterarum, 72(3), 181-208.

https://doi.org/10.1111/oli.12148

Marin-Lacarta, M. (2017). Indirectness in literary translation: Methodological possibilities. Translation Studies, 10(2), 133–149.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2017.1286255

Nida, E.A. (1964). Toward a science of translating, with special reference to principles and procedures involved in Bible translating. E.J. Brill.

Petit Prince Collection (n.d.). Retrieved May 2, 2021, from https://petit-prince-collection.com/

Pięta, H. (2014). What do (we think) we know about indirectness in literary translation? A tentative review of the state-of-the-art and possible research avenues. In

I.G. Sala, D.S. Roig, & B. Zaboklicka (Eds.), Traducció indirecta en la literatura catalana (pp. 15–34). Punctum.

Pięta, H. (2017). Theoretical, methodological and terminological issues in researching indirect translation: A critical annotated bibliography. Translation Studies, 10(2),

–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2017.1285248

Pięta, H. (2019). Indirect translation: Main trends in practice and research. Slovo.ru: baltijskij accent, 10(1), 21–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.5922/2225-5346-2019-1-2

Ringmar, M. (2007). “Roundabout routes”: Some remarks on indirect translations. In F. Mus (Ed.), Selected Papers of the CETRA Research Seminar in Translation

Studies 2006 (pp. 1-17). CETRA.

Ringmar, M. (2012). Relay translation. In Y. Gambier, & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies (Vol. 3) (pp. 141–144). John Benjamins.

St. Andre, J. (2009). Relay. In M. Baker, & G. Saldanha (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies (2nd ed.) (pp. 230–232). Routledge.

Stroilova, A.G., & Dmitriev, N.M. (2016). Intermediary translation in Russian and English literary relations: Analysis of “Night Thoughts” by E. Young in Russian

translations. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 236, 131-138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.12.051

Sun, Y. (2014). Translation and back translation: Transcultural reinventions in some Chinese American literary works. Asia Pacific Translation and Intercultural Studies,

(2), 107-121. https://doi.org/10.1080/23306343.2014.908563

Torres-Simón, E., Pięta, H., Maia, R.B., & Xavier, C. (2021). Indirect translation in translator training: Taking stock and looking ahead. The Interpreter and Translator

Trainer, 15(2), 260-281. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2020.1868173

Toury, G. (2012). Descriptive translation studies and beyond (Revised ed.). John Benjamins.

Ustaszewski, M. (2021). Towards a machine learning approach to the analysis of indirect translation. Translation Studies, 14(3), 313-331.

https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2021.1894226

Verbeke, D. (2010). Swag-bellied Hollanders and dead-drunk Almaines: Reputation and pseudo-translation in early modern England. Dutch Crossing, 34(2), 182-191.

https://doi.org/10.1179/030965610x12726397286278

Washbourne, K. (2013). Nonlinear narratives: Paths of indirect and relay translation. Meta, 58(3), 607–625. https://doi.org/10.7202/1025054ar

Zainol, I.S., & Haroon, H. (2019). From French into Malay via English: The indirect translation of Henri Fauconnier’s Malaisie into Malay. KEMANUSIAAN: The Asian

Journal of Humanities, 26(2), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.21315/kajh2019.26.2.5

Zhumabekova, A. K., & Mirzoyeva, L. Y. (2016). Peculiarities of indirect translation from English into Kazakh via Russian language. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of

Educational Technology (Special Issue for INTE 2016), 189-194.

Zubillaga Gomez, N. (2016). (In)direct offense: A comparison of direct and indirect translations of German offensive language into Basque. Perspectives, 24(3), 486–

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0907676X.2015.1069858