Can Translation Alter Political Persona? The Case of the Rhetorical Repertoire of Obama and Trump Translated From English to Indonesian

As rhetoric in political speeches represents a particular persona that political figures strive to cultivate, that rhetoric should project the same image as the original when translated. Therefore, this study aims to explore the shifts in rhetorical strategy categories as seen in the translation of the political speeches of former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump from English to Indonesian, how they affect message correctness, and how they may change the orator's political character. In multiple case studies covering the acceptance and inauguration speeches of both Obama and Trump, some rhetoric maintains their original identities. Moreover, there are five different shifts found in the rhetoric of their speeches: 1.) a shift from rhetoric to non-rhetoric; 2.) a shift from rhetoric to lost or deleted rhetoric; 3.) a shift from a particular type of rhetoric strategy to another; 4.) lessening rhetorical power or degree of the same strategy; and 5.) a shift of propositional message. Furthermore, the study reveals that retaining rhetorical categories in the translation results in higher accuracy, whereas any shift has the opposite effect, as it changes the original rhetorical message. As a result, this raises the possibility that a particularly rhetorical-style political identity may change if a large number of alterations occur.