The (un)translatability of humorous discourse on screen : a case study of English into Italian and into Spanish audiovisual translations of ‘Grown Ups’ 1 & 2

Abstract

Audiovisual translation enables viewers and listeners who speak a language different to the source language of the audiovisual production to fully understand what is being shown and heard on screen. Therefore, it is vital that the same feeling of enjoyment that is received by the original audience while watching a humorous audiovisual production in its source language, reaches the target audience when the same audiovisual production is translated into the target language. Audiovisual translators are faced with multiple challenges when translating humour on screen which are mostly related to cultural differences, linguistic issues, as well as technical constraints. Research conducted by scholars on the challenges of translating humour is discussed in this dissertation. The present study contributes to the field by testing existing hypotheses and theories and by challenging the notion of untranslatability of humour on screen. This is achieved through an analysis based on the translation into Italian and into Spanish of the American comedy movies, 'Grown Ups' 1 & 2. Both the dubbed and subtitled Italian and Spanish versions of the movies are analysed. This is done to create a comparative analysis between the Italian and the Spanish translations and to examine how audiovisual translators tackled the problem of untranslatability of humour. Therefore, the main focus of the study is on the comedy movie through existing theories of humour. Difficulties and challenges in translating humour are pointed out and strategies used by translators to overcome linguistic, cultural and technical constraints are outlined. Moreover, this study attempts to provide solutions for the subtitler and the dubbing script writer’s decision-making in the translation of Grown Ups from English into Italian and Spanish, especially when it comes to the notion of untranslatability of humorous discourse. Therefore, the findings from the selected data of the present case study uncover how audiovisual translators have dealt with the cultural aspects of humour and with the language-based humour on screen, whether they managed to find an adequate translation in the target language and overcome the concept of untranslatability. Given that different types of humour were applied in the American movie, different strategies had to be employed during the translation process.