An Investigation of Translating Humor from a Pragmatic Equivalence Perspective:A Case Study in the TV Subtitle E/C Translation of Friends

• Main Authors: Lu, Pey-wen, 盧珮文
• Other Authors: Chen, Peter Y.H.
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/75832354660364381226

碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 翻譯學研究所在職專班 === 96 === Situation comedies from foreign countries have not only entertained the local viewers in Taiwan but also conveyed their culture in films. The quality of translation has been an important factor in successfully sending the humorous and cultural information. The purpose of translating humor for TV subtitling is to effectively send humorous messages to the target language viewers. It is important for translators to achieve Pragmatic Equivalence effect when translating humor for TV subtitling. When observing the American sitcom Friends, “verbal humor” and “non-verbal humor” (i.e., situational humor) have been found in the episodes. The “verbal humor” is related to the actors who flout the “speech act” maxims, including maxims of “cooperative principle” and “politeness principle.” The actors are also found to use figure of speech to deliver humor. In addition, the interaction among the actors, their facial expressions and tones, the relationships among the characters, background music and scenes could affect the humor in the film. After observing and analyzing the script from the source language and the translation of the target language, the problems associated with humor translating for TV subtitling are as follows: incorrectness, non-colloquialism, incomprehensibility, and inconsistency. These problems lead to that the episodes being translated are not going to be funny. Under the principle of clarity and concision in subtitle translation, this paper places emphasis on how “pragmatic-markedness theory” can help translators achieve the effect of “pragmatic equivalence” in humor translation for TV subtitling.