INDONESIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS Vol. 11 No. 1, May 2021, pp. 30-38 Available online at: https://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/IJAL/article/view/34670 https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i1.34670 30 *Corresponding Author Email: yunita.nugraheni@unimus.ac.id The reconstruction of the image of Javanese as an old language through an English translation of Javanese cultural terms in Indonesian novel ‘Gadis Kretek’ Diana Hardiyanti 1 , Yunita Nugraheni 1* , Mangatur Nababan 2 , and Riyadi Santosa 2 1 English Department, Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang, Jl. Kedungmundu Raya No. 18, Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia 2 English Department, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Ir. Sutami No. 36, Kentingan Kec. Jebres, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia ABSTRACT As on old language, Javanese has its uniqueness. The uniqueness of Javanese language is reflected through the use of speech level and the distinctive specification in addressing things and activities. Consequently, Javanese language is rich with vocabularies and it has many specific cultural terms in many aspects and activities. In Indonesian novel ‘ Gadis Kretek’, many Javanese cultural terms are incorporated to depict and construct Javanese social life, characterization, and issues. Such cultural terms become a challenge for the English translator since they symbolize the oldness of Javanese language. This research unfolds the translation techniques used by translator in translating Javanese cultural terms in novel ‘Gadis Kretek’ as well as the translation quality of the English translation. The data of this study were taken based on the certain criteria of cultural terms in Javanese found in the original novel ‘Gadis Kretek’ and its English translation ‘Cigarette Girl’. The data source was in the form of documents and informants. The documents included the original novel ‘Gadis Kretek’ and its English translation ‘Cigarette Girl’. The informants were the raters who assessed the quality of translation. This study concludes based on the translation techniques used and the finding of the translation quality, the translator is not very successful in the attempt of reconstructing the image of Javanese as an old language because the translator fails as shown in many analyzed data to deliver the specifics of Javanese cultural terms, at least their concept in the translation. Keywords: Javanese cultural terms; translation techniques; the image of Javanese as an old language; translation quality First Received: 17 December 2020 Revised: 16 March 2021 Accepted: 18 April 2021 Final Proof Received: 16 May 2021 Published: 31 May 2021 How to cite (in APA style): Hardiyanti, D., Nugraheni, Y., Nababan, M., & Santosa, R. (2021). The reconstruction of the image of Javanese as an old language through an English translation of Javanese cultural terms in Indonesian novel ‘Gadis Kretek’. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(1), 30-38. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i1.34670 INTRODUCTION As an old language, Javanese language is constructed by the old social-cultural concept, such as andhap-asor and tata krama (Sukarno, 2010). Based on the social-cultural concept, Javanese language has its uniqueness. Its uniqueness is reflected by the concept of speech levels (Sukarno, 2015) and the specification in addressing things and activities. Firstly, the use of speech levels in Javanese consequences the richness of the vocabularies in Javanese. The use of the speech levels in Javanese is the form of Javanese people’s great concern of politeness in communicating toward each other (Poedjosoedarmo, 1968). Javanese people use different speech levels in communicating with different people. For instance,