Publications
Publication details [#4489]
Schröter, Thorsten. 2004. Of holy goats and the NYPD: a study of language-based screen humour in translation. In Hansen, Gyde, Kirsten Malmkjær and Daniel Gile, eds. Claims, changes and challenges in Translation Studies (Benjamins Translation Library 50). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 157–168. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Publication type
Article in jnl/bk
Publication language
English
Keywords
Source language
Abstract
Humour, especially when based on language-play, is known to pose great difficulty for the translator. This is true for all kinds of media, but the screen translator faces additional problems that are due to the special nature of the texts s/he has to produce. While both dubbing and subtitling can usually be said to render the spoken aspects of screen productions more or less adequately, especially in view of their medium-specific limitations, it is interesting to see how the challenge of reputedly ‘untranslatable’ play with linguistic elements, which forms an essential part of many humorous films and shows, has been addressed. The results of an empirical study described in this paper suggest a partial answer to this question. Both dubbed and subtitled versions, as well as several target languages, are discussed in this paper, and the objective is to make quantitative comparisons between the different versions.
Source : Based on information from author(s)