Translating Humor across Cultures: Verbal Humor in Animated Films

Laura- Karolina Gll Partium Christian Uni ersit!" #radea

Humour and translation Humour plays an important role in the context of intercultural communication. One of the means for exporting humor across cultures is television. This predominant medium of mass entertainment features a diversity of programs, mainly of Anglo-American origins, in which humour plays a minor, or major role. Partly universal, partly individual, and at the same time rooted in a specific cultural and linguistic context, humour poses a real challenge for translators. hen translating humour a num!er of factors need to !e ta"en into consideration. #esides having to decide whether the target language reader understands the humour, translators also have to render the humourinducing effect of the source text. They have to ma"e source humour function as humour in the target culture. Translators$ a!ility to ma"e creative decisions is often tested !y culturally !ound elements and language-specific devices. %er!ally expressed humor is among the most difficult to translate. As opposed to referential humour, ver!al humour is often viewed as untranslata!le due to its language dependent &uality. Translators are often faced with the seemingly impossi!le tas" of translating ver!al humor while "eeping as much as possi!le of its informational and pragmatic content and, at the same time, producing a similar effect as it would provo"e in the source language culture. 'aphaelson- est ()*+, illustrates the difficulty that lies at the !asis of translating ver!al humor relying on the following pun- ./inguistic jo"es are punny as hell.0 1he argues that 23n order to translate the jo"e it would !e necessary to have an idiomatic expression a!out humour which contained a word which rhymed with a word which means something a!out puns or language. This word which means something linguistic would have to !e similar to the word it rhymes with, and its presence would have to add a little meaning to the sentence.2 3t is highly unli"ely, however, for languages to comply with such a num!er of conditions. 4onse&uently, the good &uality of the translation depends largely on the creativity of translators.

$ubtitling and dubbing The already challenging tas" translators are assigned with when translating ver!al humor is further intensified when dealing with ver!ally expressed humor in the context of audiovisual translation. 4iaro argues that .no matter how complex issues concerning the translation of written and spo"en instances of %5H 6ver!ally expressed humour7 may !e, they are relatively simple when compared to the intricacy of having to translate them when they occur within a text created to !e performed on screen.0 Translating ver!al humour in the audiovisual context is indeed a demanding process due to the fact that, in addition to the cultural and language factors, the translator8s scope is also !ound !y the visual and audial aspect of the medium. Therefore, when it comes to rendering the humour of the source language the translator$s choice is limited !y audial and visual cues which cannot !e manipulated. Though, du!!ing replaces source language on the soundtrack with target language, source-culture oriented visual feedback might still make a target-culture oriented translation solution impossible, and consequently make humour impossible to translate. %iewers$ expectation that the translator remains faithful to the source text is another aspect to the translator$s delicate jo! of aiding the target culture in capturing the humour. hile !eing under a variety of constrains the translator is also supposed to ma"e the least possi!le changes to the source version. This feature affects su!titling where the source language and the target language are simultaneously present. hile in the case of du!!ing viewers awareness of a divergent or possible incorrect translation is suppressed, according to Shochat and Stam (qtd. in 9as"anen, Reality Bites :) .su!titles offer the pretext for a linguistic game of ;spot the error$0 especially for those viewers who have a command of !oth languages. 4onse&uently, the su!titler is often faced with the often impossi!le tas" to "eep to the source language version and at the same time render the humour that cannot !e rendered !y a source-culture oriented translation solution. <inding a compromise, a solution that might function for the target language audience in a maximally similar way as the original did for the source language audience and still not deviate too much from the source language version might prove to !e an especially thorny issue, and on a num!er of occasion an impossi!le tas" The next section investigates the way 'omanian su!titlers and Hungarian du!!ing translators set out to complete this demanding mission.

Translation %rocedures and strategies Once it comes to discussing translation strategies there is one universal aspect that is treated in all the different approaches, thus it cannot !e left unaccounted for in the present paper. hen relating a source text to the norms of the target culture, translators can opt for an ;assimilationist$ approach !y canceling the elements that are alien to the target culture, or opt for an adherence to source norms !y retaining source-culture specific elements. These two !asic strategies lie at the two ends of a continuum. 3n fact what translators do in practice is to mitigate these two extremes !y finding some sort of compromise so that the text would function for the target language audience in a maximally similar way as the original did for the source language audience and at the same time "eeping as much as possi!le of its informational and pragmatic content. 4onse&uently, we will also investigate the strategies employed by Romanian subtitlers and ungarian dubbing translators in terms of a source language target language continuum. !ur analysis will present and discuss various translation solutions for certain categories of verbally e"pressed humour. Since, subtitling is the predominant form of audiovisual translations in Romania, while ungary is a dubbing country we analy#e the Romanian subtitled version and the ungarian dubbed version of the animated film Chicken Run. $he film is closely e"amined and various translation solutions are presented. $he analysis investigates the differences and similarities between the Romanian and ungarian versions, and looks for any possible generali#ations that might be of any help to translators when it comes to the challenging tas" of translating ver!al humour. The examples will provide the source language text, the Hungarian and 'omanian versions and their !ac"translation. The most fre&uent source of ver!al humour in the film is wordplay. >ela!astita defines wordplay as a .textual phenomena0 contrasting .linguistic structures with different meanings on the !asis of their formal similarity0 (9as"anen ?)-?=., One aspect of wordplay and translation that many researchers have approached is whether wordplay is translata!le at all, since it depends so strongly on the structure of the source language for meaning and effect.

The translation strategies for puns suggested !y >ela!astita (&td. in Asima"oulas, include the following- (a, translating the source text wordplay with wordplay in the target text, which may !e more or less different@ (!, translating it in a way that loses some aspect of the wordplay@ (c, replacing it with some other device aimed at creating similar effect (e.g. rhyme, irony,@ (d, source text pun

copied as target text pun, without !eing translated@ (e, or omitting it.
The reasons for omission may !e language specific when there are elements in the source text that do not have corresponding linguistic elements in the target language@ media specific when the time and space limitations of su!titling affect the translation@ or due to the human translator, through insufficient talent, interest, experience or time. However if it is impossi!le to translate a certain occurrence of ver!al humor due to language, culture or medium constraints translators can opt for a compensatory strategy !y inserting a pun

where there was none or ma"ing use of other humour-inducing devices. Chicken Run, the title of the film is a taste of what is to come. hile ;chic"en run$ means an area surrounded !y a fence where one "eeps chic"ens, the interpretation of ;run$ as a ver! ma"es an allusion to the ;escape$ reading as well. Of course this second possi!le interpretation is availa!le only when one !ecomes ac&uainted with the plot. Therefore this wordplay does not rely solely on language factors. However, it is worth loo"ing at the Hungarian and 'omanian translations- the Hungarian Csibefutam translates only the second interpretation, while the 'omanian Evadare din cote translates !oth the $escape$ (evadare, and the place where chic"en are "ept (cote., (), is among the first wordplays in the film. Aic", one of the rats, activates the ;!ehind$ meaning of after, using the expression ;after you$ as an incentive for <etcher to leave. <etcher, the other rat, processes a different meaning of after, the ;su!se&uent in time to$ and poses a &uestion !ased on that interpretation. 3t is the incongruity !etween the two meanings that gives rise to humour. 1ince !oth Hungarian and 'omanian language ma"e use of the word after in !oth senses (relating to space, and relating to time, translators opt for the source-language strategy !ut due to the inflectional nature of the two languages it is only the space related meaning of after that gets activated. 4onse&uently, the humorous effect is somewhat reduced as aspects of the wordplay are lost.

(),

Eng.

Ro.

Hu.

A- After you, <etcher. <- After 3 whatF

>upC dumneatea, <etcherD After you, FetcherD >upC mine, ceF After me what

4sa" utEnad 4sali). After you, Fetcher. Gi van utEnamF !hat is after me

(=, 5ng. <- Pushy Americans, always showing up late for every war- overpaid, over sexed and over here.
'o.

<- Americanii !CgCcioHi, apar la sfIrHitul fiecCrui rCJ!oi, super-plCtiKi, super-alintaKi Hi acum vin peste noi. "eddlesome Americans, they show u# at the end of each war, e$tra #aid, e$tra s#oilt and now they are over here.
Hu.

<- TLrtetM Amcsi", minden hE!orN!a "OsMn lOpne" !e. Hogy Oppen egy renyhe Pan"ee "LssLn egy ilyen he/P5A "i.= %ushy Americans&slang form', they enter each war belatedly. (he only thing this #lace needs is a sluggish )ankee. (=, is a remar" made !y #ritish rooster <owler referring to 'oc"y, the American rooster. This is an example of a pun em!edded in a larger string of words. The mechanism that gives rise to humour in the source text is in fact similar to the one in ()., <owler activates two different meanings of over- ;extremely$ in over#aid and over se$ed, and ;to one8s place of residence$ in over here. The humor comes from the sudden introduction of a new meaning of over in an enumeration in which the elements preserve the same form. The unexpectedness of the change in meaning gives rise to humour. 3n order to translate this wordplay the translator would need an expression in the target language meaning ;to one8s place of residence,$ consisting of two words the first of which would also mean ;extremely,$ and used as such in com!ination with other words as their first element. As pointed out earlier in such a similarity !etween languages is inconceiva!le. And indeed neither Hungarian nor 'omanian ma"es use of such an expression.
)

Hungarian du!!ing ma"es use of a target-culture oriented solution and replaces the original proper names with target language expression = 1tress placement mar"ed !y capitaliJation

4onse&uently it !ecomes the translator$s dilemma to rewrite the humour in such a way that it has a similar effect on the target language audience as the source te"t had on the source language viewers. $he Romanian subtitler chooses to render the informational and pragmatic content of the passage at the expense of the humour-inducing effect. He "eeps as much as possi!le of the source text form. He uses the word su#er in the similar way as over is used with the first two elements, !ut since, su#er does not match the third element the translator opts for omitting the pun altogether. On the other hand the Hungarian du!!ing translator retains only part of the meaning of the sentence altering the informational contents in such a way that it would function in a maximally similar way as the original did for the source language audience. 3n view of the fact that the source text wordplay is impossi!le to translate into the target language the du!!ing translator replaces it with another device in order to create a similar effect. The natural stress pattern of the word helyen is changed and when read together with the word ki the output is identical to )ankee. This genuinely creative strategy of repeating the 5nglish word !y a Hungarian word com!ination ma"es it possi!le to render the humourinducing effect of the source text. (*, Eng. '- The name8s 'oc"y. 'oc"y the 'hode 3sland 'ed. 'hodes for short. 4h- 'oc"y 'hodesF
Ro.

'- GC cheama 'oc"y. "y name is Rocky 'oc"y, 'oHcatul din 'hode 3sland. Prescurtat-'hodes. Rocky, the Rhode *sland Redhead. Rhodes for short 4h- 'oc"y 'hodesF
Hu.

'- A nevem 'oc"y. "y name is Rocky 'oc"y, a 'i"itQ 'a"Ota. 'i"i 'a"i. Rocky, the %iercing Rocket. Riki Raki (short for Piercing 'oc"et, 4h- 'oc"y 'i"i 'a"iF 3n (*, 'oc"y introduces himself creating the pun 'oc"y 'hoads. hen rendering this

pun to the target language the 'omanian su!titler opted for a source-culture oriented translation solution incorporating the source language wordplay unchanged into the target language text. R

There is only a slight change in the conversational exchange - 'ed is changed to 'edheadotherwise the su!titler chooses to copy the source text pun as target text pun. The Hungarian du!!ing translator moves towards the target-culture end of the continuum, and once again decides in favour of a compensatory strategy for the lost wordplay. Humour is created on the phonetic level !y repeating the same sounds in slightly altered com!inations (mostly !y alternating vowels., This inventive strategy is carried on for one more conversational exchange thus increasing the humorous effect. 3n (B, the translators are faced with the highly challenging tas" of translating a cultural element which is !ased on a pun on Attila the Hun. 1ince neither Hungarian nor 'omanian has the formal similarity !etween the words +un and hen, the epithet Attila the Hen does not exist in the two target cultures. <inding this complex element impossi!le to translate !oth translators choose a culturally neutral solution in order to replace the wordplay, and in so doing they also reduce the humorous effect. (B,Eng. A- <etcher, let8s see if our Attila the Hen has come to her senses.
Ro.

A- <etcher, sC vedem dacC prietena noastrC Hi-a schim!at pCrerea. Fetcher, let,s see if our friend has changed her mind.
Hu.

A- Te 4sali, talEn jo!! !elEtEsra tOrt aJ aJ OsJ!ontott csir"e. Fetcher, #erha#s that cra-ed chicken has come round.

(?,Eng. S- here there8s a will, there8s a way. '- 4ouldn8t agree more. And 3 will !e leaving that way&
Ro.

S->acC vrei, poKi. !here there,s a will, there,s a way. '-1unt total de acord. * totally agree. 3ar eu voi pleca Tn acest mod. And * will be leaving this way.

Hu.

S- Ha a"arod "i"aparod. )ou can scra#e it if you want. '- 5!!en egyetOrte". * agree with that. Gegye" is Os "i"aparom innen magam. *.ll go and scra#e myself out of here.

(?, is a complex issue. Singer ma"es use of an idiom in order to convince 'oc"y to help them escape, !ut 'oc"y announces his intention to leave ma"ing use of the components of the idiom Uthe words will and way/ to create a wordplay. The humor of the passage relies on 'oc"y$s wordplay. This seemingly untranslata!le conversational exchange poses a real challenge for the translators. The pro!a!ility of finding an idiomatic expression carrying the same meaning as the source idiom and having a polysemous component which may serve as a !asis for wordplay, would have !een highly unli"ely !oth in Hungarian and 'omanian. Thus, it is again the translators$ creativity that is put to wor". The 'omanian su!titler uses the current targetlanguage equivalent for the idiom at the e"pense of the humorous effect. $he ungarian dubbing translator modifies %inger&s words in such a way that Rocky&s interpretation can give rise to incongruity. $he funniness of the ungarian version lies in the activation of the literal meaning of 'to scrape& (kikapar) as opposed to the metaphoric meaning intended by %inger. (et, the humourous effect is somewhat weaker than what the source language e"pression might achieve in the source culture. $he e"amples discussed so far invariably tested translators& capacity for making creative solutions when faced with the challenging task of e"porting humor across cultural and linguistic !arriers. However, owing to the audiovisual &uality of the medium, su!titlers$ and du!!ing translators$ latitude is often !ound !y the image. (R, and (:, illustrate cases of humour relying on the interplay of word and image . This comes to illustrate that ver!al humour cannot !e considered a purely linguistic phenomenon when it comes in a visual pac"age. (R, Eng <- 3t8s chic"en feed.
Ro.

<- 5 mIncare de pCsCri *t,s chicken feed V

Hu.

Ro.

<- 5J ne"em magos. (his is seedy to me. (:,Eng. <.- #ird of a father flop together.

<- SCinile TmpCunate...au cCJut toateD Every swaggering chiken....has fallen.

Hu.

<- AJ utolsQ fogEs ra"ott csir"e. (he last dish of layered chicken.

3n the case of (R, and (:, the translator$s latitude is !ound !y the image. The humour in (R, arises from the interplay of the slang expression ;chic"enfeed$ meaning a trifling amount of money and the image of chic"en feed on screen offered as payment. 1ince the image ma"es it impossi!le to rewrite the humour in the target language the su!titler must have felt at a loss and chose to comply with the image factor omitting the pun and losing the humorous effect. The Hungarian translator complies with the image factor !y using the word seedy (as chic"en feed is seen in form of seeds, and at the same time ma"es source humour function with the help of the ;magosmagas$ paronym. The Hungarian expression e- nekem magas means- this is two difficult for me to comprehend. The humorous effect is generated with the use of the paronym, as well as with the expression functioning as an allusion to <etcher$s foolishness. The humour in (:, also relies on the visual context. hen <etcher voices the idiom the image of a heap of !irds lying on top of each other is shown on screen. The image activates the literal meaning of the idiom, giving rise to humour. The pro!lem re&uires innovative thin"ing on the part of the translator. Their scope is !ound !y language factors as well as the visual aspect of the medium. #oth translators manage to choose an effective techni&ue. Though, the play on the idiom cannot !e reproduced in the target languages the humorous effect of the 'omanian su!title arises from the rhyme ( 0m#1unate/ toate, and the elo&uent style of the utterance. The Hungarian version communicates the humour !y comparing the image of the heap of chic"en to a layered chic"en casserole (rakott csirke., Concluding remar's This paper has investigated the strategies used for translating ver!al humor in the animated film Chicken Run. e have examined a 'omanian su!titled-, and a Hugarian du!!ed version of the film. Aoticea!ly, the strategies used in the two versions were &uite different from each other, part of which can !e attri!uted to the two distinct forms of audiovisual translation.

3t may well !e that, the du!!ing translator found it easier to move towards the targetculture end of the continuum and choose a target-language oriented solution, for du!!ing allows somewhat more freedom to manipulate the target version. The du!!ing version used various strategies in order to bring the translation closer to target culture preferences. The su!titled version is more consistently source-language oriented. The ver!al humor was not communicated in the majority of wordplay instances owing to the fact that source-culture oriented translation solution could not render the humourous effect to the target-culture audience. However, the data used in this paper does not entitle us to ma"e generaliJations on the translation norms of Hungarian du!!ing or 'omanian su!titling. This analysis is just a fracture of the large chun" of ver!al humor created to !e performed on screen. Aonetheless, it clearly illustrates that innovative thin"ing, and creative decision-ma"ing on the part of translators, can result in successful translation even with a culturally !ound element in a contextually !ound medium.

)+

<ilmography Chiken Run. >ir. Peter /ord, Aic" Par". Perfs. Gel Si!son, 9ulia 1awalha. >%>. Aardman Animations, =+++.

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