Humour in Audiovisual Translation Theories and Applications

This book offers a comprehensive account of the audiovisual translation (AVT) of humour, bringing together insights from translation studies and humour studies to outline the key theories underpinning this growing area of study and their applications to case studies from television and film. The volume outlines the ways in which the myriad linguistic manifestations and functions of humour make it difficult for scholars to provide a unified definition for it, an issue made more complex in the transfer of humour to audiovisual works and their translations as well as their ongoing changes in technology. Dore brings together relevant theories from both translation studies and humour studies toward advancing research in both disciplines. Each chapter explores a key dimension of humour as it unfolds in AVT, offering brief theoretical discussions of wordplay, culture-specific references, and captioning in AVT as applied to case studies from Modern Family. A dedicated chapter to audio description, which allows the visually impaired or blind to assess a film’s non-verbal content, using examples from the 2017 film the Big Sick, outlines existing research to date on this under-explored line of research and opens avenues for future study within the audiovisual translation of humour. This book is key reading for students and scholars in translation studies and humour studies.

Table of Contents Humour in Audiovisual Translation: Theories and Applications Table of ContentsList of AcronymsFiguresTablesAcknowledgementsIntroductionThe Scope of This Book and its StructurePART I - TheoriesChapter 1 – Humour and Humour Translation1.1 Introduction1.2 Defining Humour and its Markers1.3 Theories of Humour1.4 Script-based Theories1.4.1 SSTH and GTVH1.4.2 The Application of the GTVH and Some Criticism1.5 Conversational Humour1.5.1 Function(s) of Humour in Conversation1.6 Humour in Comedy1.7 On Humour (Un)Translatability1.8 Summing upBibliographyFilms, TV Series and Theatre Plays CitedNotesChapter 2 – Audiovisual Translation and Humour2.1 Introduction2.2 AVT - Reasons and Rationale2.3 Some Theoretical Considerations Regarding AVT2.4 Modes of Audiovisual Translation2.4.1 Revoicing2.4.1.1 Dubbing2.4.2 Captioning2.4.2.1 Subtitling and Fansubbing2.5 AVT in Italy2.6 The AVT of Humour2.6.1 Priorities and Strategies in the AVT of Humour2.7 Summing upBibliographyFilms, TV Series and Theatre Plays CitedNotesPART II – ApplicationsChapter 3 – Humorous Puns in Translation3.1 Introduction3.2 Defining (Humorous) Puns3.2.1 Puns Based on Fixed Expressions and Idioms3.2.2 Puns Based on Verbal and Non-Verbal Text3.3 Punning and Translation3.3.1 A Taxonomy for the AVT of Humorous Puns3.4 Data and Methodology3.4.1 Modern Family3.4.2 Methodology3.5 Data Analysis3.5.1 Punning in Dubbing3.5.2 Punning in Captioning3.5.3 FEI-Based Puns in Dubbing3.5.4 FEI-Based Puns in Captioning3.5.5 Puns Based on Verbal and Non-Verbal Text in Dubbing and Captioning3.6 Findings and ConclusionsBibliographyFilms, TV Series and Theatre Plays CitedNotesChapter 4 – Humorous Culture-Specific References4.1 Introduction4.2 Defining Culture-Specific References (CSRs)4.3 Types and Sources of CSRs4.4 Function(s) of Humorous CSRs4.5 Translating (Humorous) CSRs4.6. Data Analysis4.6.1 Dubbing Humorous CSRs4.6.2 Captioning Humorous CSRs4.7 Findings and ConclusionsBibliographyFilms, TV Series and Theatre Plays CitedChapter 5 – Multilingual Humour in AVT5.1 Introduction5.2 Multilingualism in AVT5.3 Translating Multilingual Humour5.4 Data Analysis5.4.1 Dubbing Multilingual Humour5.4.2 Captioning Multilingual Humour5.5 Findings and ConclusionsBibliographyFilms, TV Series and Theatre Plays CitedNotesChapter 6 – The Audio Description of Humour6.1 Introduction6.2 Audio Description6.3 Hum

Margherita Dore is Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ and the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’. She (co-)authored over fifteen papers and edited one essay collection on translation practice (Achieving Consilience. Translation Theories and Practice, Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2016), a special issue of Status Quaestionis on retranslation (2018) and one special issue of the European Journal of Humour Research on multilingual humour and translation (2019). Margherita Dore has worked on the analysis of humour in translated audiovisual texts and in a range of other contexts, including stand-up comedy.