TRANSLATING BEAUTY: TRANSLATION TECHNIQUE AND REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL IDENTITY IN MAKEUP PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ON THE SEPHORA WEBSITE

This study is qualitative descriptive research aimed to identify types of collocation in makeup product descriptions on the Sephora website, analyzed translation techniques applied to those collocations, and how the translation technique represents social identity and reflects brand communication. The Benson et al. (2010) classification model is used to categorize the collocation types into lexical and grammatical. The analysis of translation techniques proposed by Molina and Albir (2002), consisting of 18 techniques. To deconstruct the layers of meaning and representation of social identity, Roland Barthes’ (1957) semiotic framework: encompassing denotation, connotation, and myth. Data validation was conducted through triangulation of theory to ensure the credibility and trustworthiness of the qualitative analysis. The primary data sources in this study were obtained from the English (source language) and Indonesian (target language) versions of makeup product descriptions across the eye, face, and lip categories on the Sephora Indonesia website. In this study, a total of 117 data were obtained and classified into two types of collocation. The findings indicate that collocation types that mostly found are lexical with 98,29%. Out of 18 translation technique, 7 individual techniques and 3 combined techniques were identified. Established equivalent (29.91%) is the most dominant. Semiotic analysis reveals that the translation choices successfully construct three repetitive social identity representations of modern women: elite, modern, and seductive. These representations collectively shape Sephora's brand communication as an empowering, premium global beauty retail.