Humor is a pretty serious thing. At least for those who have to translate it. Linguistic and cultural differences mean that humor can quickly miss the mark when translated literally, and sometimes translators are left with only one choice: They have to tap into their creativity.
Humor is a wonderful subject for debate, because it is never objectively funny. We experience almost daily how different the individual perception of humor is. For example, when a funny remark is misunderstood or, conversely, when we find the humor of others banal or inappropriate.
Translators, however, are facing completely different problems when it comes to humor. Few things are as tough to translate as irony, sarcasm, wit, wordplay, or subtle allusions. Sometimes it’s just the different language that stands in the way, but often it’s the cultural imprint and the country-specific history.
Transcreation: Because humor and puns are more than just language
Translating humor is a supreme discipline. Only a few professionals are really good at it. In the vast majority of cases, transcreation plays at least a partial role. Transcreation goes beyond literal translation: It is the art of transforming spoken or written source text so that it triggers the same emotion in another linguistic and cultural area. In this case: Laughter.
In addition to being highly proficient in both languages, translation professionals must also have profound knowledge of the culture and history of the target country. When it comes to humor, there is another crucial factor beyond linguistic intuition. In addition to language skills and the ability to recognize subtle humor as such, a good translator also needs the ability to be humorous and witty.
Successful transcreation: Much more than international translation
The German dubbed version of the 2008 movie Willkommen bei den Sch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks) is a prime example of how far transcreation can go. The French comedy draws most of its humor from the northern French Ch’ti dialect, which sounds rather quirky to the ears of all other French people. Naturally, this leads to numerous misunderstandings in the movie. The translators did not take the obvious route of using a German dialect with a similar effect. Instead, they invented a fictitious dialect that is phonetically similar to the peculiarities of Ch’ti.
One of the most brilliant experts of transcreation was Erika Fuchs, the translator of several Disney comics by Carl Barks. Her version of the passage in which Donald Duck’s three nephews decide never to bath again became famous. Huey, Dewey, and Louie swear to each other in the original: From this moment we are the three Un-Ducks – unkempt, uncombed and unbathed! A rather trivial play on words, which Erika Fuchs replaced with a fantastic Schiller paraphrase, in which Tick, Trick, and Track (the German names of Huey, Dewey, and Louie) swear: Wir wollen sein ein einig Volk von Brüdern, in keiner Not uns waschen und Gefahr! (One people will we be — a band of brothers; no danger, no distress shall sunder us!)
That’s about as good as it gets.
What is actually funny? Why language and culture are crucial for texts
Attributing different types of humor to different cultures is often based on stereotypes. A look at the art of film-making shows that these stereotypes are sometimes justified. Asian comedy movies, for example, often do not achieve the same effect in Europe because the actors exaggerate their gestures and facial expressions too much for European tastes. Additionally, the humor is often perceived as childish rather than funny.
Differences also quickly become apparent within Europe. Take the infamous British humor for example. The unique mixture of subtle, cryptic wordplay and abrasive, sometimes vulgar comedy is often impossible to translate adequately. A classic example in this respect is Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a TV series that set standards between 1969 and 1974. In many cases, the highly successful transcreation of the German dubbed version can simulate the humor of the original, but still cannot make it comprehensible.
When humor requires historical knowledge
Humor is often based on knowledge of historical facts. This is just as true for Asterix as it is for the Divine Comedy. Dante’s Commedia is available in excellent German translations. However, they all require an extensive apparatus to explain the countless allusions to events and people of the time. The Asterix comic series is also full of allusions to historical events. However, since footnotes in comics tend to be a nuisance, the German translators have done a great job of translating the original allusions into something comprehensible for German readers in many cases through successful transcreation.
How the nature of humor is constantly changing
Additionally, the sense of what is or isn’t funny is also constantly changing within cultural areas. For example, the influence of political correctness on the sense of humor has been the subject of heated debate for years. Comedy series such as Little Britain, which ridiculed every conceivable minority (and majority) between 2003 and 2006 with unprecedented harshness, would no longer be possible today—even according to the people involved at the time.
This may or may not be regrettable. The fact is, however, that social changes in humor do not occur synchronously in all parts of the world. While political correctness currently has a massive influence in Anglo-American and European cultures, the situation is very different in other parts of the world. Consequently, the transcreation of humor must also consider this aspect: How far can you go in which cultural area? What can or cannot be said and how far can the boundaries of humor be pushed?
When translating from the source text sometimes fails
When Asterix in Britain was published in 1966, it was one of the best editions of the French comic series to date. It charmingly explores the typical English stereotypes: The cult of afternoon tea, British fairness, bad food, warm beer and, of course, linguistic idiosyncrasies. Although the German version, published in 1971, is a perfect example of a perfect translation, it was bound to fail in part due to the allusions to the language. The famous doubling of the English It is, isn’t it? was easily replicated in the French original (Il est, n’est-il pas?) and German translation (Es ist, ist es nicht?). However, one thing was simply untranslatable: The British consistently put adjectives before nouns in the comic book. That sounds pretty funny in French. However, it doesn’t work in the German (and of course, the English) version.
There is no question that this is an extreme example. Nevertheless, humor is sometimes simply untranslatable into the target language. This is especially true when it comes to wordplay, as the following joke shows. An English shoemaker advertises: I will heel you, I will save your sole, and I will even dye for you.
We hope you enjoy trying to translate this ad !
