Translation final paper
Thread poster: Elena Stanciu
Mar 14, 2017

Hi Everyone!

My name is Elena Stanciu and I am about to finish my degree but I am struggling with my Final Paper. I am kind of stuck! I have been thinking about working on Translating Humor and it can be related to spanish, english and german. Would you please give me a hand? Do you know any movie or TV show where humor is the main character so to say?

Any idea will be more than appreciated!

Thank you very much!


 
neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 15:01
Spanish to English
+ ...
Try José Mota Mar 15, 2017

The Spanish comedian José Mota does some really funny sketches about languages. I've tried posting some links, but for some reason my post isn't appearing. Try a Google search for "José Mota alemán inventado"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eoM8f9Ed4o


 
Giulia Piantoni
Giulia Piantoni
United Kingdom
Italian to English
+ ...
Plenty of TV series! Mar 15, 2017

Hi Elena,

If you are asking about movies/TV shows where translators face challenges in translating puns and cultural-related humour, there are plenty; for example, the Simpsons can give you a lot of ideas (I used Groundskeeper Willie in one of my uni essays as an example of localisation in the Italian version, I do not know if it can work in SPA or DE as well), but there are Family Guy, 2 broke girls, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and plenty of others who base their puns on American related c
... See more
Hi Elena,

If you are asking about movies/TV shows where translators face challenges in translating puns and cultural-related humour, there are plenty; for example, the Simpsons can give you a lot of ideas (I used Groundskeeper Willie in one of my uni essays as an example of localisation in the Italian version, I do not know if it can work in SPA or DE as well), but there are Family Guy, 2 broke girls, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and plenty of others who base their puns on American related culture.
It can be interesting comparing some examples where the translation worked out and where it did not, and also analysing how the personal traits of the characters have been localised.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Giulia

[Edited at 2017-03-15 13:10 GMT]
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Helena Chavarria
Helena Chavarria  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:01
Member (2011)
Spanish to English
+ ...
A couple of ideas Mar 15, 2017

Mr Bean doesn't talk and then there's the film by Almodovar, 'Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios'.

I also like the comic strip called 'Olafo el vikingo' (Spanish); 'Hägar the Horrible' (English) and 'Hägar der Schreckliche' (German)

And thinking of comic strips, there's 'Fred Basset' and 'Garfield'

Edited because I forgot to mention TV series. I used to enjoy watching quite a few but you'll probably find them too old for your liking. However, I'm su
... See more
Mr Bean doesn't talk and then there's the film by Almodovar, 'Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios'.

I also like the comic strip called 'Olafo el vikingo' (Spanish); 'Hägar the Horrible' (English) and 'Hägar der Schreckliche' (German)

And thinking of comic strips, there's 'Fred Basset' and 'Garfield'

Edited because I forgot to mention TV series. I used to enjoy watching quite a few but you'll probably find them too old for your liking. However, I'm sure there are some modern ones around. The Simpsons' perhaps?

[Edited at 2017-03-15 14:51 GMT]
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Toon Theuwis (X)
Toon Theuwis (X)  Identity Verified
Belgium
Local time: 15:01
English to Dutch
+ ...
How about... Mar 15, 2017

Woody Allen?

 
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:01
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
More specific? Mar 15, 2017

I am working on my final paper myself, although on a different matter, and know how hard it can be to find a subject that makes you tick and has plenty of meet/tofu to sink your teeth into! It did occupy my mind too frequently during my 2nd and 3rd years. I got quite obsessed with it, and prepared several options with a summary of possible topics and submitted it to my tutor as a way to discriminate between good and not-so-good projects.

I think your tutor for the Trabajo de Fin
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I am working on my final paper myself, although on a different matter, and know how hard it can be to find a subject that makes you tick and has plenty of meet/tofu to sink your teeth into! It did occupy my mind too frequently during my 2nd and 3rd years. I got quite obsessed with it, and prepared several options with a summary of possible topics and submitted it to my tutor as a way to discriminate between good and not-so-good projects.

I think your tutor for the Trabajo de Fin de Grado might ask you to find something more specific. Humour (i.e. dubbing/subtitling comedy) would be a very big subject, and you might want to find some specific aspect of translation of comedy you find interesting. Just to give you an example, although to be taken with a pinch of salt as it has been studied often already, one thing that comes to mind is manipulation (de-automation) of idioms/phraseology for humorous reasons. Another example is humour created by misunderstandings, either when two characters come from different cultures or when one of the characters is pragmatically dysfunctional (like Dr. Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory).

If you are interested in audiovisual translation, I reckon it would not harm to find Spanish comedy films that have been dubbed/subtitled to other languages and do a kind of Descriptive Translation Studies job about it. Depending on your personal interests (whether you are more theory-oriented or prefer to observe and describe), the TFG might take you to different routes.

Do let us know what you decide! It will be interesting to know.
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Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT
Tomás Cano Binder, BA, CT  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 15:01
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
A quick suggestion Mar 15, 2017

I think it would pay to read a bit about the basic mechanics of humour and the possible comedic genres. By knowing more about how humour works, you might be better poised to find a good topic you can propose to your tutor.

 
roberta-b
roberta-b
Italy
Local time: 15:01
English to Italian
+ ...
a suggestion Mar 15, 2017

I remember translating (or better, trying to translate) some Monty Python sketches during English Translation classes at university; you could develop many topics regarding translation starting from their sketches.

Perhaps you could also investigate a bit the different forms of humour in the countries whose languages you are considerin
... See more
I remember translating (or better, trying to translate) some Monty Python sketches during English Translation classes at university; you could develop many topics regarding translation starting from their sketches.

Perhaps you could also investigate a bit the different forms of humour in the countries whose languages you are considering (I am thinking about this https://www.welt.de/kultur/article13421700/Die-Deutschen-sind-die-unwitzigste-Nation.html)
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Translation final paper






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