Challenges and Strategies in Audiovisual Translation of Humour: Analysis of Rush Hour 2
Challenges and Strategies in Translating Humour; A Case Study of Rush Hour 2 movie
Humour forms the essence of human interaction and adds more value to their day-to-day life. Most people have found avenues to obtain humour in their daily lives. Besides, the inventive population has devised ways to capture the humour and convey them over the present-day digital platforms. However, different languages across the world affect the ability to comprehend humour. The creative community came up with a translation concept to convey the humour from one language to another. Nonetheless, the translation cannot carry the original humour aspect brought out in the target language. For instance, Lutviana and Mafulah (2017) claim that most translators lose humour as they transfer meaning from the different cultural terminologies. Therefore, this research intends to discover the challenges and strategies in translating humour using the movie Rush Hour 2 as a case study.
- Problem Statement.
Humour loses the humourous effect upon translation from one language to another. According to Kovács (2020), humour has different angles that obtain relevance from wordplay, double meaning, or cultural references. These aspects contain the frameworks upon which most inventive people structure their mood. It implies that most forms of humour are often relevant in their original conditions. However, the evolution of international communities has paved the way for translation to understand different forms of humour pertinent to the different cultures. Therefore, the appropriate research questions for the intended study are listed below.
- What are the different forms of humour?
- Which factors influence the framework on which facets of humour are established?
- What are the challenges in translating humour?
- What are the strategies involved in humour translation?
- Objectives.
The research’s long-term objective is to provide the challenges and strategies in translating Rush Hour 2 subtitles from English to Romanian. However, the sub-objectives include:
- To outline the strategies used in the translation of humour.
- To provide the challenges encountered in the process of humour translation.
- To develop a comprehensive outline of the facets of humour.
- Preliminary Literature Review.
A preliminary literature review highlights that available studies emphasise the concept of humour and its different forms (Kovács, 2020). The studies are rich in explanations of the general challenges that arise from the translation of humour. Besides, the challenges are established from the case study of comedy translation from English to Spanish (Harrison, 2012). Thus, the studies have highlighted general strategies employed during humour translation. Therefore, the intended research will outline specific challenges and methods used to translate subtitles in Rush Hour 2 from English to Romanian.
The research methods relevant to the study include several case studies of English subtitles from the movie Rush Hour 2. Thus, the corresponding subtitled version in Romanian and a detailed analysis of the challenges and strategies used by translators will provide sufficient information on the research subject. Finally, the findings will outline the challenges and procedures during the translation of Rush Hour 2 from English into Romanian.
Research Bibliography
Harrison, C. (2012). Difficulties of translating humour: From English into Spanish using the subtitled British comedy sketch show “Little Britain” as a case study [Master’s Thesis].
https://www.grin.com/document/196451 (last accessed 17.3.2022)
Kovács, G. (2020). Translating humour – A didactic perspective. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, p. 68-83.
https://doi.org/10.2478/ausp-2020-0013 (last accessed 17.3.2022)
Lutviana, R., & Mafulah, S. (2017). Preserving humorous effects in a target language: Challenges in translating culturally loaded expressions. Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora, p. 159-164.
https://doi.org/10.17977/um030v5i42017p164 (last accessed 17.3.2022)
Challenges and Strategies in Translating Humour: A Case Study of Rush Hour 2 movie
Annotated Bibliography
Abomoati, G. (2019). Strategies for translating audiovisual humour from English into Arabic. Critical Studies in Languages and Literature.
https://doi.org/10.5455/csll.295220/translating.audiovisual.humor
Abomoati explores the strategies used in translating humour between different cultures and languages in an audiovisual context. The article is structured to highlight the humour in an audiovisual and the same humour upon translation. Hence, Abomoati employs a case study of translating humour from English to Arabic.
Bradshaw, P. (2001, August 3). Rush Hour 2. The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/aug/03/culture.reviews2
Bradshaw offers a detailed review of the movie Rush Hour 2. The review examines the film techniques used in the film and their contribution to avail humour in the film. The review also offers a detailed plot of the movie along with the characters’ contribution to its humour.
Bruzdziak, E. (2011). ‘Translation Strategies and Techniques in Audiovisual Translation of Humour: Analysis of “Shrek 2” and “Ice Age” [Master’s thesis].
https://www.grin.com/document/184630
Bruzdziak explores the strategies used in translating humour during subtitling and dubbing. The thesis builds its claims around the two films, Ice age, and Shrek. The articles asses the leading techniques and strategies employed in the translation of the films. It also highlights all the strategies used in the general translation.
Chaume, F. (2018). ‘Is audiovisual translation putting the concept of translation up against the ropes?’ The Journal of Specialized Translation p. 84-104.
Chaume reviews audiovisual translation characteristics that raises concern over the aspect of translation. The article highlights that recent development in the consumption of audiovisual content has availed different changes in the concept. Thus, Chaume highlights all the new development in the concept and their impact on the perception of translation.
Chiaro, D. (2017). The language of jokes. The Language of Jokes in the Digital Age, 6-34.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315146348-2
Chiaro offers a new perspective on the most employed languages of jokes in the global and current digital world. The article demonstrates the changes and most consistent jokes to evoke humour. Thus, Chiaro evaluates the changes experienced in the comedy field upon incorporating digital platforms in passing comedy across. The article also brings out the unchanged aspects of comedy.
Garcìa, B. (2017). Bilingual subtitles for second-language acquisition and application to engineering education as learning pills. Computer Applications in Engineering Education, 25(3).
Garcia introduces bilingual subtitles that feature the first language and second language on the same screen. The article highlights the role of bilingual subtitles in learning a new language and understanding the details of a film during translation. Finally, the article brings out the perception granted to the concept of bilingual subtitles.
Harrison, C. (2012). ‘Difficulties of translating humour: From English into Spanish using the subtitled British comedy sketch show “Little Britain” as a case study’ [Master’s Thesis].
https://www.grin.com/document/196451
Harrison examines the difficulties experienced during the translation of a comedy sketch, Little Britain. The first part of the thesis highlights humour theories employed in various forms of comedy. Consequently, the second part emphasizes the leading theory in the selected comedy show. The last part of the thesis explores the case study and draws various examples from the comedy on the translated subtitles.
Lee, M. (2016). The Manipulation and Role of Stereotypes in the Rush Hour Trilogy. Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications.
Lee explores the pieces of evidence of stereotypes and manipulation in the movie. The article is a detailed exploration of the two themes. Besides, the article evaluates the movie plot’s ability to avail humour and transmit it to the audience. The article details various incidents in the movie that showcases the themes and plot.
Lunin, M., & Minaeva, L. (2015). Translated subtitles language learning method: A new practical approach to teaching English. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, p. 268-275.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.516
Lunin and Minaeva present the differences in using audio-textual strategy while teaching English with the introduction of new technologies. The article highlights the challenges that arise from teaching English to learners of different social backgrounds. It also highlights the difficulties in teaching learners with different interests and those struggling to obtain practical English lessons.
Lutviana, R., & Mafulah, S. (2017). ‘Preserving humorous effects in a target language: Challenges in translating culturally loaded expressions’. Jurnal Pendidikan Humaniora, p. 159-164.
https://doi.org/10.17977/um030v5i42017p164
Lutviana and Mafulah present the challenges in their journal “Preserving humorous effects in a target language: Challenges in translating culturally loaded expressions.” The article employs the theory of humour translation, Vandaele, to break down the challenges experienced in translating the novel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It highlights instances of losing meaning and humour upon translation.
