Translating humor into a target language is one of the most gratifying, but also one of the most difficult jobs for translators. Something really funny in one language can be completely dry in another. Sometimes the translation works brilliantly – and other times it would have been better left alone.
In The Funniest Joke in the World, a sketch by British comedy troupe Monty Python, the British invent a joke during World War II that is so funny it makes everyone who hears it die of laughter. Since hearing just a few too many words of it is life-threatening, the joke is completed in small fragments, then it is translated into German and read out loud at the front with deadly impact. The German text of the joke is jibberish. It mimics what German sounds like to English ears: harsh, awkward, monotone.
The famous sketch is full of allusions to English and German clichés. It also plays on the different types of humor. The “retaliation joke” used by the Germans is so bad that it only causes bewilderedness among the British.
Transcreation beats literal translation
Translating humor is a particularly challenging task, even for professionals. Literal word-for-word translation almost never works. Instead, it almost always needs to be transcreated. In other words, the content needs to be reworded into other languages and cultural areas with the goal of triggering the same emotion there. Consequently, translators who dare to take on the challenge of translating humor must possess a key quality that sadly cannot be taught: Humor.
In many cases, this works really well and the results are impressive. In other cases, not so much.
Play on words: When the joke almost always misses the mark
In most cases, wordplays are untranslatable. For sentences like I wasn’t going to get a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind, there is no linguistic equivalent in any culture in the world that conveys the joke in the same way. If something similar appears in literature or film, the only option is to invent a completely new pun or find a corresponding idiom. The only other alternative is to ignore the pun altogether.
Allusions offer completely different opportunities.
Allusions: Humor based on familiarity
In many cases, humor arises from alluding to events that are generally known. A traditional assignment for transcreation: Something that everyone knows in France can be completely meaningless in Germany.
The German translators of the French Asterix comics were (and still are) among the champions of this craft. The volumes published since 1959 were full of brilliant references to history, culture, and pop culture, especially in the early days when René Goscinny was writing. Much of the content was universally understandable, but some passages were probably only comprehensible for the French. The translators of the comics did a perfect job in terms of transcreation.
One example: When the Gauls land in the port of Piraeus in Asterix at the Olympic Games, they sing a song that alludes to a well-known French chanson and is adapted to the comic storyline with a few puns. Since the chanson is unknown in German-speaking countries, the copywriters had to get creative with the wordplay. In the German version, the Gauls sing “A ship will come…”, which is a reference to a well-known German song that also relates to the plot: the song begins with the words “I’m a girl from Piraeus”.
Another successful transcreation is the German dubbing of the 1995 English comedy movie The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain. Among other things, the movie’s humor is based on the legendary rivalry between the English and Welsh, which is largely unknown to audiences outside the British Isles. In the movie, the two dialects clash time and again, causing outrage and bewilderment among the conversation partners. Fortunately, the translators refrained from using German dialects here, but somehow still managed to make the rivalry between the two ethnic groups permanently tangible in a humorous way.
Cultural differences: Humor is more than just an assembly of words
People are known to have a unique sense of humor that can vary from person to person. But there are also clear differences between cultures. Much of this is based on stereotypes, but often enough it is also true.
This requires translators to have a unique intuition and finesse for language. For example, if the joke is based on sexual innuendo or on topics that come close to being politically incorrect, caution is required in some target cultures. These types of topics are not perceived in the same manner everywhere, which is why transcreators also need to be well informed about the current mood in the target country.
The striking differences between Germany and Austria, for instance, show that humor is even perceived differently within regions that share a common language.
The cabaret scene is a great example here. Many German cabaret artists tend to take a more abrasive approach, whereas in Austria more subtle and above all much darker humor usually prevails. Interestingly, some Austrian cabaret artists such as Josef Hader are nevertheless very successful in Germany, even though he is often a prime example of pessimistic dark humor. However, people watching performances by the cabaret artist and actor in Germany will notice that Josef Hader himself subjects his sketches to a kind of transcreation. He has transcreated some Austrian terms that are not known in Germany and his ironic tone is also slightly altered in some places in order to reach the German audience.
And sometimes it can be too much of a good thing
The movie industry is a prime example here, because dubbing studios are always tempted to use humor where none was originally intended. This effect experienced a heyday in the 1970s, when a wave of humor that seems rather forced today swept through the cinemas.
This can often be seen in the movie titles. The great French comedian Louis de Funès was a frequent victim of this trend: While the original movies usually feature neutral, descriptive titles, the German versions are called Quietsch … quietsch … wer bohrt denn da nach Öl? (Squeak… squeak… who’s drilling for oil?), Bei Oscar ist ‘ne Schraube locker (Oscar has a loose screw), or Onkel Paul, die große Pflaume (Uncle Paul, the big pansy). Painful.
Another well-known example is My Name is Nobody from 1973. While the western with Terence Hill and Henry Fonda also has humorous aspects in the original language, it deals with serious topics such as generational conflicts or the excessive pressure that comes with being legendary. The fact that Terence Hill had already made several successful comedies with Bud Spencer at the time (which also produced astonishing German title blunders) obviously encouraged the translators to cram the movie full of jokes over its entire length.
