Translating Simone de Beauvoir’s the Second Sex into Malay: Methodological and Linguistic Challenges

This paper examines the complex challenges involved in translating Simone de Beauvoir’s seminal feminist text The Second Sex into Malay (Jantina Kedua), focusing on the interplay between language, ideology, and sociocultural context. Drawing on key theories from Holmes, Nida, Vinay and Darbelnet, and Catford, the study explores how the translator navigates issues of cultural sensitivity, syntactic and lexical disparity, untranslatability, and ideological nuance. Particular attention is given to strategies used to handle culturally sensitive content, metaphorical language, and philosophical terminology. The analysis demonstrates that translation in this context is not merely a linguistic exercise but a deeply interpretative act shaped by the translator’s agency and cultural mediation. Ultimately, the study underscores the importance of balancing fidelity to the source text with readability and resonance for the target audience in the translation of feminist philosophical works.

Literary translation, Simone de Beauvoir

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