AN ANALYSIS OF TRANSLATION STRATEGIES FOR CULTURAL-SPECIFIC ITEMS FROM THAI INTO ENGLISH IN MY DEPARTURE FOR SUPHAN: A POEM BY SUNTHORN PHU, TRANSLATED BY JONGJIT ARTHAYUKTI

Abstract

Abstract— This study aims to categorize culture-specific items and examine the strategies used
to translate them from Thai into English in My Departure for Suphan: A Poem by Sunthorn Phu,
translated by Jongjit Arthayukti. Using Nida’s (1945) framework, the cultural terms are
systematically classified to highlight key dimensions of Thai cultural identity embedded in the
poem. Newmark’s (1988) model is applied to analyze the translation strategies, offering insight
into how cultural meanings are conveyed, adapted, or reformulated in the target language. The
analysis identifies 279 culture-specific terms, which are grouped into five categories: ecological
culture, material culture, religious culture, social culture, and linguistic culture. Eight translation
strategies are observed: transference, literal translation, classifier, paraphrase, gloss/notes, cultural
equivalence, deletion, and combinations such as couplets, triplets, or quadruplets. The findings
enhance the understanding of cultural representation and translator decision-making in literary
translation.