ABSTRACT
While the field of translation studies stems from the study of multilingual and intercultural exchanges, very little of its seminal works have factored in Southeast Asian translation practices, traditions, and theories. This jarring epistemological gap stands in contrast to the discipline’s spirit of embracing superdiversity expressed through interventions like feminist and postcolonial translation theories. Yet, what critical insights might translation studies gather from engaging with Southeast Asia? To answer this question, this chapter will take a cultural translation approach to explore the changing literary articulations of the harimau jadian, or were-tiger—a mythological trope from the Malay world, a cultural sub-region within Southeast Asia. To this end, the chapter will first consider traditional oral folklores of Negeri Sembilan, Johor, and Java before comparing them to modern literary texts as a means of mapping the were-tiger’s evolution as a carrier of meaning for signifying Malay indigeneity. In particular, it will consider P. Ramlee’s film/novella Sitora Harimau Jadian and Eka Kurniawan’s novel Lelaki Harimau (Man Tiger) to posit that these modern retellings of the were-tiger legends can be theorised as transformative “were-texts,” a move that can pave the way for translation scholars to pursue a new line of questioning.
