Translation Problems of Comedy Movies

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Akademik Sosyal Araştırmalar Dergisi, Yıl: 5, Sayı: 63, Aralık 2017, s. 155-166
Yayın Geliş Tarihi / Article Arrival Date Yayınlanma Tarihi / The Publication Date
22.11.2017 25.12.2017
Yrd. Doç. Dr. Sevtap GÜNAY KÖPRÜLÜ

Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Yabancı Diller Eğitimi Bölümü,
Alman Dili Eğitimi Ana Bilim Dalı
sgkoprulu@hotmail.com
TRANSLATION PROBLEMS OF COMEDY MOVIES

Abstract
The movie translation, nowadays in the scope of “audio-visual translation”, reaches
audiences from two different channels both visual and auditory. Therefore, the
movie translation involves translation difficulties that depend on factors much dif-
ferent than the types of translations that arrive at a single channel recipient. In
movie translation, among the linguistic elements that force the translator is the
translation of linguistic uses to the target language, which causes smile or even
laughter in the viewer.In this study, the translatability-untranslatability of the lin-
guistic elements that create comic effects in movies and the proposed translation
strategies have been considered in the scope of translation studies. And then, it has
been researched what kinds of linguistic elements are difficult for the translator in a
comedy film, how these elements are translated or why they can not be translated,
and which translation strategies are used by the translator. For this, the Turkish
dubbed version (Öğretmenin Böylesi 2) of the German comedy movie (Fack ju
Göhte 2) directed by Bora Dağtekin, which was published in 2015, was examined.
As a result of the review, it was determined that the translation of linguistic ele-
ments that make comic effect are quite a problem, for this reason, it was seen that
the vast majority of the original movie comic effects disappear in the translation.
Keywords: Comedy, humor, comedy movie, translation strategies
Komedi Filmleri Çeviri Sorunsalı
KOMEDİ FİLMLERİ ÇEVİRİ SORUNSALI

Öz
Günümüzde çeviribilim alanında görsel-işitsel çeviri kapsamında yer alan film
çevirisi, hem görsel hem işitsel olmak üzere farklı iki kanaldan izleyiciye ulaşıyor
olması nedeniyle salt bir kanaldan alıcısına ulaşan çeviri türlerinden çok daha farklı
etkenlere bağlı çeviri zorluklarını içermektedir. Film çevirisinde, çevirmeni zor-
layan dilsel etkenler arasında alıcıda gülmeye neden olan dil kullanımlarının hedef
dile aktarımı yer almaktadır. Bu kapsamda bu çalışmada, filmlerde komik etki
oluşturan dilsel ögelerin çevrilebilirliği-çevrilemezliği ve önerilen çeviri stratejileri,
çeviribilim kapsamında ele alınmıştır. Daha sonra bir komedi filminde ne tür dilsel
ögelerin çevirmeni zorladığı, bu ögelerin nasıl çevrildiği veya neden çevrilemediği
ve çevirmenin hangi çeviri stratejilerini kullanıldığı araştırılmıştır. Bunun için
yönetmen Bora Dağtekin’in 2015 yılında yayınlanmış olan Alman yapımı sinema
filminin (Fack ju Göhte 2) Türkçe dublajlı çevirisi (Öğretmenin Böylesi 2)
incelenmiştir. İnceleme sonucunda, komik etki oluşturan dil kullanımlarının
çevrilebilirliğinin oldukça zor olduğu, bu nedenle orijinal filmdeki birçok komik
etkinin çeviride yok olduğu görülmüştür.
Anahtar kelimeler: Komedi filmi, mizah, komik, çeviri stratejileri 156
INTRODUCTION
One of the most common uses of movie translation1 methods, or as a more general concept,
audio-visual translation methods, is dubbing. In this translation process, the dialogue, the
speeches, sometimes lyrics etc. in the original movie are translated verbally to the target lan-
guage and the translator may experience problems due to verbal and visual integrity, synchroni-
zation, or some other limitations (for details, see Günay Köprülü: 2014).
In movie translation, it is necessary to pay attention to the type of movie and its function. For
example, the aim/ function of comedy movies is to make the audience laugh; this function of the
movie and the elements that make the audience laugh should also be protected in the target lan-
guage. The movies have a fiction, and every element that takes part in this fiction has a function
within the whole meaning of the movie. It is for this reason that every element that has a func-
tion in the movie and which is important in the sense of movie semantic integrity should be
reflected in the translation.
Comic events or situations in everyday life that make a person laugh or smile can occur in dif-
ferent types such as humor, joke, wit, anecdote, gesture and mimic, comic situations or events
etc.
In the Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association, the term comedy is defined as
“Laughter”; “Event or events that cause laughter”2. And the term humor in the same dictionary
is defined as “amusement, laughing and irony for the purpose of entertaining someone without
1
Our research does not concern the translation of media such as video games, audiovisual educational tools that are
part of the audiovisual context. This research relates to movie translation. For this reason, it is preferred to use the
concept of “movie translation” instead of the concept of “audiovisual translation” in the study.
2 “Güldürü”; “Gülmeye neden olan olay veya olaylar” (tdk.gov.tr)
The Journal of Academic Social Science Yıl: 5, Sayı: 63, Aralık 2017, s. 155-166
hurting their feelings”3 (see tdk.gov.tr). When the definitions are concerned, it seems that the
common point of comedy and humor is to “make someone laugh”. For this reason, in this study,
humor and comedy concepts are not considered different from each other in terms of linguistic
elements that led to laugh.
Humor depends on many factors such as age, gender, social and economic situation or culture
and it can cause someone to smile and make someone else sad. Humor that makes people laugh
can arise for reasons such as deviation from linguistic norms, unusual syntax, incorrect grammar
use, incorrect pronunciation, slurring, and misuse of words or letters, language plays, word-
plays. There is a contrast, a difference between normal and customary. This difference, incom-
prehensibility, contradiction and unconventionality cause people to laugh.
Turk (1993: 282) refers to three different kinds of comedy:
1. Character comedy (ger. Charakterkomik)
2. Situation comedy (ger. Situationskomik)
3. Language comedy (ger. Sprachkomik)
Belz (2008: 53) defines language comedy as a form of “comedy tied to linguistic structures or
elements.”4
According to Shade, humor can be divided into four categories:
1. Figurative humor: Funny clothes, caricatures, cartoons 157
2. Visual humor: Pantomime, imitate, clips, etc.
3. Auditory humor: Funny noises, funny sounds
4. Verbal humor: The most common type of humor; it takes place in conversations.
Jokes, wordplays, riddle, etc. (Sanchez, 1998: 3-4).
The verbal humor is the most commonly used type of humor, and vast majority of them are
word plays. Delabastita (1997:128) refers to the term of wordplay as
“the general name for the various textual phenomena in which structural features of
the language(s) used are exploited in order to bring about a communicatively sig-
nificant confrontation of two (or more) linguistic structures with more or less simi-
lar forms and more or less different meanings.”
As stated by Delabastita (1997), there are four types of wordplays that can share similarities in
terms of linguistic structures within a language. These are; homonymy, homophony, homogra-
phy and paronymy.
Attardo (1994: 132) notes that vocabulary not only includes words, but also smaller units such
as morphemes and phonemes, and larger units such as simple units, sequences and dull expres-
sions. Many authors agree that the basic content of vocabulary is ambiguity (akt. Uçar, 2014:
24-27).
3 “Eğlendirme, güldürme ve bir kimsenin davranışına incitmeden takılma amacını güden ince alay, mizah, humor”
(tdk.gov.tr)
4 „Komik, die an sprachliche Strukturen oder Elemente gebunden ist“
TRANSLATION OF LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS THAT CREATE COMIC EF-

FECTS
Gottlieb (1997: 188/210) suggests the following strategies for the translation of language come-
dy (ger. Sprachkomik):
1. Literal translation: One to one identical translation without changing the word (if
laughter aim is the second plan)
2. Adaptation: Adaptation to target language of the linguistic element that causes the
laughing effect. In this way, the comic effect is also created on the target language.
3. Neutralization: Replacement with a close item on the target language of the linguistic
element that causes the laughing effect. This removes the comic effect but the content
is transferred. Granny Smith  Apple  Fruit  Food
4. No-reproduction: The comic linguistic element does not take place at the translation.
In this case, the comic effect and the semantic content are completely eliminated.
5. Dislocation: The comic effect is given in a different place and not with the original
one simultaneously.The original comic effect is not given at the same time, but a dif-
ferent comic effect is tried elsewhere.
But in many comedy movies the laughter effect is given in funny a situation. Therefore, a syn-
chronous translation is required. Because of this, it is unlikely that the linguistic elements can be
given elsewhere, in which Gottlieb has pointed out as a translation strategy.
158
Chiaro (2010: 6-8) talks four translation strategies that they can be used in verbal humor transla-
tion:
1. Leaving the verbal humor unchanged
2. Replacement of humor element on the source language with the same humor element
of the target language
3. Replacement of humor element on the source language with the idiomatic use of the
target language
4. Completely ignoring the verbal humor
Furthermore, Delabastita (2004: 604) suggests a set of strategies for the translation of word-
plays.These strategies proposed by him can be used in general to translate linguistic elements
that create a laughing effect.
1. Wordplay  Wordplay: The wordplay in the source language has a counterpart of the
target language; there can be important differences between two wordplays.
2. Wordplay  Non-wordplay: The wordplay in the source language doesn’t have the
target language and this is translated as a non-wordplay feature.
3. Wordplay  Similar rhetorical tools: If the wordplay on the target language is not
possible, for preserving authenticity, it is conveyed to the target language with a rhe-
torical tool similar to that wordplay; for giving the effect of the wordplay at the source
language, formally similar items as rhyme and alliteration can be used.
4. Wordplay  Zero translation: The wordplay is skipped in translation.
5. Wordplay on the source language  Wordplay on the target language: The new word
or phrase is adapted using alternative words or expressions on the target language in-
stead of the wordplay on the source language.
6. Non-wordplay  Wordplay: A normal word or phrase in the source text is given as

wordplay on the target language. In this way, the place where the wordplay is skipped
in the source text is compensated.
MOVIE REVIEW WITHIN THE SCOPE OF TRANSLATION OF COMIC LINGUIS-

TIC ELEMENTS
Zeki Müller is a teacher at Goethe Gesamtschule School with fake documents in spite of the fact
that he is not a teacher. An international trip was organized to raise the reputation of the school.
And Mr. Müller had to go to Thailand for a school trip with some students from the problematic
10b class that he was responsible for. There had been many comic events on this trip.
Sample 1
In this section from the first scenes of the movie, Mr. Müller goes to the workplace of the stu-
dent. The latter is a trainee in a company related to VW cars. Mr. Müller introduces himself to
the lady at the company entrance and he says he wants to see his student.
Orijinal Diyalog Türkçe Diyalog
Zeki: Müller, Goethe Gesamtschule. Ich Zeki: Adım Zeki. Goethe Lisesi. Stajyer bir
muss eine Schülerin besuchen. Sie macht öğrenciyi görmeliyim.
hier Praktikum. Şef: Soyadınız? 159
Chefin: Nachname? Zeki: MÜL-LER!
Zeki: MÜ-LLER! Şef: Öğrencinin?
Chefin: Die Schülerin. Zeki: Bilemiyorum.
Zeki: Weiß ich jetzt nicht.
In German, possession is not added to the end of the name as it is in Turkish: senin adın  dein
Name. By Utilizing from this use of the language, a comic effect was created in the movie.
However, this effect has disappeared in Turkish translation. In the original movie the chief,
asking for the trainee’s surname. But, Mr. Müller thinks his name is being asked and slightly
annoyed because his surname is asked again and emphatically, he says again his surname with a
louder voice and spelling. The comic effect based on the misunderstanding that is created by the
use of the language has completely disappeared in translation.
Sample 2
Zeki Müller makes a grammar mistake, when he talks to the chief at the workplace of the stu-
dent who interned there. The chief corrects the error but he does not understand that the chief
has corrected his mistake and he thinks the chief is making a mistake.
Zeki: Blabla, diese Praktikums machen eh Zeki: Neyse neyse ikimiz de stajyerliklerin
keinen Sinn. gereksiz olduğunu biliyoruz.
Chefin: Praktika. Şef: Stajyer
Zeki: Nein, ich rede vom Plural. Zeki: Çoğulundan bahsediyordum.
The notion of “Praktikums” that Zeki said, contains a grammatical error. Zeki is making plural
by adding “-s” to the word “Praktikum” which means Turkish “staj”. But, in this way: “Prak-
tikum  Praktika” is transforms into plural. For this reason, the chef corrects the error by say-
ing “Praktika” in the movie. However, Zeki knows “Praktika” as the singular form of the word
and he knows “Praktikums” as the plural form of the word. Therefore, Zeki does not understand
that the word is corrected by saying “No, I say the plural”. Comic effects based on grammatical
errors are very difficult to create in a similar style in the different language. As a matter of fact,
the same effect in our example has not been given in Turkish dialogue.
Sample 3
Lisi is a teacher that constantly corrects grammar mistakes. She tries to make her student Dan-
ger aware of the grammatical mistakes Danger made during the conversation. But the student
does not understand it. He does not realize that he has made a Grammar mistake and he makes a
completely different meaning from the teacher’s warning.
Danger: Und mit den Polizeiauto durfte ich Danger: Polis arabasını süremedim bile çok
auch nicht fahren. kötüydü.
Lisi: Mit welchem Auto durftest du nicht Lisi: Neyi kullanmana izin verilmemişti
fahren? söyler misin?
Danger: Den Polizeiauto. Danger: Polis arabasını.
Lisi: Daniel, Dativ. Lisi: Daniel, gramer.
Danger: Nein, ein Opel war das, glaub ich. Danger: Hayır sanırım …. idi.
Regarding this movie scene by trying to correct the grammar error, a humorous effect appears. 160
Indeed, it happens when the teacher tries to correct the grammar of the student. In German lan-
guage the use of the articles “der, die, das”, Daniel uses incorrectly the dative and the accusa-
tive. He says “mit den Auto” instead of “mit dem Auto”. The teacher tries to make the Daniel
aware that he should say “dem” instead of “den” by asking that “Mit welchem Auto” [Daniel,
with which car]. However, Daniel does not understand that the teacher emphasizes the gram-
matical error.The teacher says “Dativ” on the continuation of the error, in order to say that it is
related to the dativ use of the grammar error. This time, the student thinks the “Dativ” grammar
word as a car brand and replies, “Nein, ein Opel war das, glaub ich” [No, I suppose it was
Opel]. In this example, it is very difficult for the translator to be able to give a humorous effect
in Turkish. Because, Article usage that can reflect the same grammatical error does not exist in
Turkish.
Sample 4
A group of children from indigenous people attacked Chantal and his friends, who were camp-
ing in Thailand and they took their supplies and foods by forcing them. During this case, their
teacher Zeki was not there. The next day again, when Chantal see the same group looking
around them, she tries to say in English that they want peace.
Chantal: We want piss! Chantal: Bağış istiyoruz. Bağış istiyoruz.
Zeki: “Peace”! Das heißt “peace”, nicht Zeki: Onun adı “barış”, “bağış” değil!
“piss”! Chantal: Barış istiyoruz!
Chantal: We want peace!
In this scene of the movie, there is a wordplay used for comic effect. Chantal pronounces the
word “peace” incorrectly. The word “piss” means “urine” as a subject and “to urinate” as a verb.
In the movie, a rude word comes out as a result of Chantal’s wrong pronunciation unconscious-
ly. The words “Piss – peace” are homophonic words pronounced in the same way but different
writing and different meanings. In Turkish translation, the words “bağış – barış” [donation –
peace] by changing a letter has been given with the use of two words with very different mean-
ingful but with similar in spelling and in pronunciation. The humorous effect with the crude
word that is caught in the source language was also made in the target language except for the
rough content.
Sample 5
Etienne is the only handicapped student in the school. He has some strange moves and he can
not touch anyone. Some students in the school know that he is in love with his teacher, Ms.
Schnabelstedt (Lisi).
Zeki: Ihr entschuldigt euch bei Etienne, oder Zeki: Hemen Etienne’den özür dile.
sucht Wattwürmer. Chantal: Hayır bunu istemiyorum. O çok
Chantal: Nö. Isch will aber nisch. Er ist tuhaf. Artı Bayan Schnabelstedt’e âşık.
komisch und außerdem in Frau Schna- Zeynep: Ooo! Çok tatlı!
belstedt verliebt. Zeki: Gerçekten mi?
Zeynep: Oh! Süß! Zeynep: Evet. Dolabını karıştırırken
Zeki: Ernsthaft? fotoğraf tapınağı bulmuşlar.
161
Zeynep: Er hat einen Schrei im Spind mit Zeki: “Bakarken”
Fotos von ihr. Zeynep: Dolabını karıştırırken dedim!
Zeki: “Schrein”. Zeki: “Karıştırırken” değil, “bakarken”!
Zeynep: Er hat einen Schrei im... Boş beyinliler.
Zeki: Nicht “schreien”, “Schrein”, Alter!
Ihr Hohlköpfe.
Translation of the terms “Schrei – Schrein” in the German dialogue force the translator. The use
of the “Schrei” [shouting] name word as verb is “schreien” [to shout]. The term “Schrein” usu-
ally means a wooden cabinet or box where valuable goods are stored (see Duden). In this exam-
ple, the box where the photographs of the teacher are kept is mentioned. The student makes a
pronunciation error by not saying the last letter (-n) of the word “Schrein” which means box.
The teacher Zeki tries to correct this mistake of Zeynep. This time, however, the student thinks
that the teacher cannot hear her well and wants her to yell and she stands up and repeats what
the teacher says. This situation creates a comic effect. In the Turkish translation, it was tried to
give this effect with the words “karıştırırken – bakarken” [while looking - while stirring]. How-
ever, the use of these words in this context did not make a comic effect, and the teacher had
become a very meaningless correctional effort.
Sample 6
In this scene taken from the film, Daniel, nicknamed Danger, tries to read the hanging tabel with
his friends as he goes on a raft to indicate that the current flows down quickly and there is a
dangerous.
Danger: “Danger! He he he. Wa-ter-fa...” Danger: Aa… Bakın! İsmim. Şe-la…
Zeynep: “Waterfall ahead”, du Pfosten! Zeynep: Şelale, aptal!
In the source language, Danger tries to spell out the Written in English. Daniel laughs when he
sees his nickname “Danger” on the board, and his reaction gives a comic effect. In the transla-
tion, a speech was added that does not exist in the source language. This added speech “Bakın
ismim” [Look! My name] reveals a comic effect on the target language.
Sample 7
Mr. Badebrecht, who is in charge of the Ministry of Education, and Mrs. Gudrun, who is the
director of Göhte Gesamtschule School, speak. Ms. Gudrun wants the Ministry of Education to
be her own school's name in the advertising campaign to raise the school's reputation.
Eckhard Badebrecht: Ihr seid fast gleich auf Eckhard Badebrecht: Schiller’in okuluyla
mit dem Schillergymnasium. Wenn ihr sie nerdeyse aynı seviyedesiniz. Onları alt etmek
schlagen wollt, braucht ihr eine internatio- için uluslar arası bir sınıf gezisine ihtiyacınız
nale Klassenfahrt. var.
Gudrun: Dies Halbjahr haben wir noch Föhr. Gudrun: Kuzey Denizine gidiyoruz.
Badebrecht: Machen wir uns nichts vor. Badebrecht: Kendini kandırma.
Ihr braucht was Internationales. Uluslar arası bir şeye ihtiyacınız var.
In this scene of the movie, the comic effect emerges from the integration of speech and vision:
Mr. Badebrecht points out to the noteworthy breasts of Mrs. Gudrun, and he emphasizes the 162
concept of “internationals” when he says “Ihr braucht was internationals”. In order to be able to
protect this effect on the fly, the word “international” is said to be synchronized with the finger
sign. This synchronization is provided in translating to the target language, and the comic effect
due to word-image integration can be given in translation.
Sample 8
Hauke is Lisin’s ex-boyfriend and he is a teacher at Schiller Highschool. When Hauke realizes
that Lisin’s new boyfriend Zeki is wearing the same glasses as himself, he points out to Zeki
and his glasses, saying these words:
Hauke Wölki: Die Elisabeth... Hauke Wölki: Elisabeth...
Na, bei den Geschenken bleibt sie sich Bir hediye buldumu doğrudan yapışır.
treu.
The comic effect that emerges in this scene of the movie comes out with the integration of
speech and vision as it was in our previous example. Intended thing, although Lisi’s boyfriend
choice has changed, - Zeki and Hauke have very different looks and personality traits - the en-
joyment of the gift choice for them remains the same. However, it is seen that the comic effect
being the word used in the original dialogue does not show the same effect in Turkish transla-
tion. Because a comic effect could be obtained with a close meaning to the original by saying
“hiç olmazsa hediye tercihi aynı kalmış” [at least the gift choice remained the same] instead of
“bir hediye buldumu doğrudan yapışır” [if he finds a gift, sticks directly].
Sample 9
Gudrun gets angry at Chantal, who speaks rude and abusive and and threatens her not to talk
like that again.
Gudrun: Chantal, achte auf deine Wortwahl, Gudrun: Chantal sözlerine dikkat et, yoksa
sonst wird hier ein Exempel statuiert. senin bir kopyanı çıkaracağız.
Zeynep: Was wird statuliert? Zeynep: N’apacakmış?
Chantal: Keine Ahnung. Chantal: Bilmiyorum.
The phrase “ein Exempel statuieren”, which is used in the German use of the concept of “exem-
plum statuere” in Latin, means making a detouring example with a hard act in the face of a situ-
ation (see Duden). This phrase, which is an old legal expression, has a comic effect in the movie
because high school students do not know it. If Gudrun had said “ein Beispiel statuieren” using
the word “Beispiel” instead of “Exempel”, then the students would have understood what she
was saying. In Turkish translation, it is said “kopyanı çıkaracağız” [we will get your copy]. In
context, this expression, which has no meaning, creates a comic effect close to the source lan-
guage in terms of not being understandable.
Sample 10
163
Föhr is located in the northern Friars’ Islands and Chantal suppose that it is in Spain.
Chantal: Hä? Dann bleibt Ploppi hier. Chantal: Ploppi burada kalabilir.
Zeki: Wenn er nicht mitkommt, fahren wir Zeki: O gelmezse Kuzey Denizine gideceğiz.
nach Föhr. Chantal: İspanya. Evet!
Chantal: Spanien. Auch geil. Zeki: İspanya? Off. Tokat sırası bugün kimde?
Zeki: “Spanien”... Wer hat Kopfnussdienst? Chantal: Ben de?
Chantal: Äh, isch! Zeki: o zaman kendini tokatla.
Zeki: Gib dir selber eine. Burak: “Ben” dedi. Ben dedi.
Burak: Sie hat “isch” gesagt. Zeki: Onda sıra kimde?
Zeki: Wer hat Isch-Dienst? Danger: Ben!. Ee. Ben.
Danger: Isch! Äh... ich. Zeki: Çok geç. Burak vur.
Zeki: Zu spät. Burak schlag ihn.
Different task attributions for students have been given in the movie. For instance; the task of
wiping the wood, the task of hitting the head when a mistake is made etc. In German,
“Kopfnuss” is a term used to strike someone’s head in the way that the hand is knocking on the
door. In this sense, Chantal supposes that Föhr is in Spain, therefore, she is punished by the
teacher to be clicked on Chantal’s head. Then, Chantal says the “isch” instead of “ich” [me] in
the Bavarian state of Germany, and thus, she is punished with a punishment called as “Isch-
Dienst” [Isch-Task]. The teacher asks whose this task is, since Danger, who is in charge of his
duty, also mistakenly says “isch” instead of “ich”, he is also punished. Thus, there is a hitting
confusion in the class. In the translation of this scene of the movie, it is not possible to be used
the dialect of “isch” while Chantal’s wrong information does not cause problem in the transla-
tion. For this reason, this comic effect disappears in the translation.
Sample 11
Chantal is trying to read the message on the Zeynep's phone. Zeynep has a message from her
family. The message is written in Turkish.
Chantal: “Canim benim...” Da ist ein Code Chantal: “Canim benim” mi? Zeynep’in ki
in Zeyneps Handy, Herr Müller. şifreli yazılmış, Bay Müller.
Zeynep: Mädchen, du bist so behindert. Zeynep: Ah sen gerçekten aptalsın kızım. Ben-
Meine Eltern kommen doch von Türkei! im ailem Türk!
Chantal does not understand that the message she reads is in Turkish and she thinks it is a code.
This has a comic effect. But, the comic effect created by using the Turkish language on the
source language had to disappear because of the fact that the target language to which movie is
translated is Turkish too.
Sample 12
Zeki gets mad at his students and he says that these requests of students who are eager to cook
bread from the stick on the fire - “Stokbrot” - are not going to happen. But when he says that, he
says “Lochbrot” instead of “Stokbrot”.
Zeki: Das war’s mit Lochbrot! Zeki: Baton ekmeğin sonu! 164
Meike: Stockbrot. Meike: Baton ekmek mi?
The term of “Lochbrot” is not found in the German dictionary of Duden. But among the people,
this name is used. “Stockbrot” is bread that is made by coiling the dough into a bar and baked in
the open fire. Zeki says angrily “Lochbrot”. This type of bread, which is made in German cul-
ture especially in camping, is not located in Turkish culture. For this reason, translation can only
be possible with the neutralization strategy. A translation can be made in the form of “şişte ek-
mek” or “ateşte ekmek”. Thus, the comic effect would have been achieved on a word-by-word
basis, though not with semantic content. Instead, the phrase “baton ekmek” used for French
bread is said.
Sample 13
Zeki is doing secret things and Lisi is not aware of it. Lise is suspicious of Zeki’s answer, ask-
ing what the black spot on his face is.
Lisi: Was is’n das? Lisi: Nedir bu?
Zeki: Ich hab dein Fahrrad repariert. Zeki: Bisikletini tamir ettim.
Lisi: Während ich damit einkaufen war? Lisi: Ben onun için bir şeyler almaya git-
Zeki: Ich geh mich umziehen. tiğimde mi?
Zeki: Ben üstümü değiştireyim.
Zeki says he fixed Lisi’s bicycle. But, Lisi went shopping by her bicycle and came. Lisi asks
him how he repaired this bike, when she went shopping by her bike. But, the same comic effect
could be achieved in Turkish dialogue very easily, because of the wrong translation had disap-
peared. If it was “ben onunla birşeyler almaya gittiğimde mi?” [Did I go to get something by
it?].
RESULTS
One of the elements that force translators in the movie translations is the translation of comic
and humorous effects created by linguistic uses such as language plays, wordplays, wits, jokes
and implications. Therefore, the translation of comedy movies may be much more difficult in
this context. As can be seen from the translation of the German comedy movie into Turkish, the
most of the comic effects in the original movie disappeared in the translated version. The lin-
guistic features of the source language have significant roles in this disappearance.
Especially the comic effects that are related to the norms of the source language norms could
not be reflected. It may not be possible to preserve similarly the comic effects connected with
the grammatical structure of the source language in the target language. Thus, this situation can
be observed in the examples taken from the German movie (sample 2, sample 3). However,
while the translatability of the comic effects related to the grammatical structure of the source
language is possible, it was neutralized as result of the translation strategy preferred (sample 1).
Besides, the comic effect based on the wordplay was given through a similar wordplay in the
translation (sample 4). But, another comic effect based on the wordplay disappeared in the
translation (sample 5, sample 12).
The comic effects created through the verbal-visual integrity are also available in the movie. In
the translation of the movie, the comic effect based on this integrity was preserved through the
the verbal-visual synchronization in the movie (sample 7). But; although the comic effect oc-
165
curred in another scene as a result of verbal-visual integrity could be preserved in the target
language, it was found that it disappeared as a result of false translation (sample 8). Further-
more, the comic effect observed as a result of the audio-visual integrity was changed by adding
wordplay (sample 6).
Besides, the comic effect observed as a result of transferring an idiom from a foreign language
and is not very popular among the youngsters resulting in ambiguity lost its meaning in the
translation because of literal translation. Nevertheless as it caused ambiguity in what stated, an
effect close to the original one partly was provided (sample 9).
It has also been found that as a result of the application of linguistic elements which are impos-
sible to translate in the original movie, the comic effects have disappeared. The usage of the
dialect in the movie was one of the untranslatability reasons. For this reason, the comic effect
based on the dialect application could not also be translated (sample 10). The other one was the
usage of foreign language in the target language. The comic effect connected with the applica-
tion of foreign language disappeared in the translation because the foreign language and the
target language was the same (sample 11).
Apart from all of the issues mentioned so far, without application of language play, wordplay
etc. linguistic elements to provide comic effect in the movie, the comic situation in the process
of the dialogue disappeared because of false translation (sample 13).
REFERENCES
Attardo, Salvatore (1994), Linguistic Theories of Humor, Mouton, New York.
Belz, Anka (2008), Die Übersetzung von Komik in wenigen Worten: Übersetzungsprobleme
und Lösungsstrategien bei der Untertitelung der britischen Sitcom “The Office”, Kovac,
Hamburg.
Chiaro, Delia (2010), “Translating Humour in the Media”, (Ed. Delia Chiaro), Translation, Hu-
mour and the Media: Translation and Humour Volume 2, 1-16, Continiuum, London.
Delabastita, Dirk (1996), “Introduction” (Ed. Dirk Delabastita), Wordplay and Translation: Es-
says on Punning and Translation, 1–22, Special issue of The Translator 2 (2).
Delabastita, Dirk (2004), Wordplay as a Translation Problem: A Linguistic Perspective, Trans-
lation, 600-606.
Gottlieb, Henrik (1997), Subtitles, translation and idioms. Copenhagen: University of Copenha-
gen.
Günay Köprülü, Sevtap (2014), “Dublajda Senkron Kaynaklı Çeviri Sorunları”, Route Educa-
tional & Social Science Journal, Volume 1(1), April 2014.
Sanchez, Annette Rangland (1998), Humor in Education: A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Un-
published Doctoral Dissertation, Peabody College Of Vanderblit University, UMI Dis-
166
sertation Information Service.
Schreiber, Michael (1993). Übersetzung und Bearbeitung: zur Differenzierung und Abgrenzung
des Übersetzungsbegriffs, Gunter Narr, Tübingen.
Turk, Horst (1993), Worüber lacht ihr? Genrekonventionen der Komödie im Spiegel der
Übersetzung, (Ed. F. Paul et al.), Europäische Komödie im übersetzerischen Transfer,
277–293, Gunter Narr, Tübingen.
Uçar, Ayşegül (2014), Gülmece ve Gülme Kaynağı Olarak Sözcük Oyunları. Dil ve Edebiyat
Dergisi, 11:1, 17-43.
OTHER REFERENCES
Duden Dictionary: www.duden.de
TDK, Türk Dil Kurumu Türkçe Sözlük, http://www.tdk.gov.tr (erişim: 10.11.2017)
Dağtekin, Bora (Yön.), Fack Ju Göhte (2015). www.kinofilme2.net/fack-ju-goehte-2-
ansehen/3/. (erişim: 10.10.2017).
Öğretmenin Böylesi 2: TiviBu Platformu Sinema2 Kanalı. 19.11.2017 tarihli yayın.

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Translation Problems of Comedy Movies

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Yrd. Doç. Dr. Sevtap GÜNAY KÖPRÜLÜ

TRANSLATION PROBLEMS OF COMEDY MOVIES

KOMEDİ FİLMLERİ ÇEVİRİ SORUNSALI

TRANSLATION OF LINGUISTIC ELEMENTS THAT CREATE COMIC EF-

6. Non-wordplay  Wordplay: A normal word or phrase in the source text is given as

MOVIE REVIEW WITHIN THE SCOPE OF TRANSLATION OF COMIC LINGUIS-

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