Humor is ubiquitous in everyday life and many studies present descriptive, discursive, quantitative as well as other types of analysis in examining the way elements in humorous extracts from American comedies such as Malcolm in the Middle, Shrek, and others, pass through linguistic as well as intercultural barriers in dubbed versions. These analyses are not only based on diverse Translation Studies and practical methods but also on taxonomy of the humorous elements found in the audiovisual translations. Martinez-Sierra (2005) first suggested the taxonomy that is related with eight types of humorous exhibits.
Audiovisual translation, which is part of translation studies, has not received much attention from translation scholars until recently and it involves translating products where elements within other media supplement the verbal dimension. (Diaz-Cintas, 2005). There are also subtypes belonging to it. Audiovisual translation is made up of two categories: intralingual as well as interlingual groups. (Luyken, 1991).The the interlingual group is however, mainly associated with the communicative and socio-cultural method in translation studies. The descriptive, relevance and functionalist theories form the basis of this study’s framework although; there are some aspects from both Cultural Studies and Pragmatics.
A Critique of Sources
Audiovisual translations of American English humor have had to not only work through the complexities discussed here, but with the technical and professional challenges of methods such as dubbing as well. (Chaume, 2004). Nonetheless, the concepts of audiovisual translation of humor have become both interesting and controversial leading to intense scholarly work over recent past. Relevance theory has, for instance been used in the studying the dubbing of humor, (Martínez Sierra 2017), as well as in wordplay translations. (Vandaele, 1999). The works of these authors have established the translation of humor as a relevant subject of study and why consistent academic attention is required. The works of Martínez Sierra (2009) as well as Chiaro (2009) have however failed to emphasize that the audiovisual field is closely connected with technology and technological advances are introducing new situations and problems.
On the other hand, other authors for example, Chesterman and Williams (2002), have examined the significant impact which functional translation has in the success of audiovisual translation of American English humor. Their work prominently considers the important aspect of dealing with the intertextuality of humor in the context expanding world of audiovisual entertainment thus giving much better insight on these impacts. Similarly, the discursive approach to audiovisual translation of humor by Chiaro (2010) emphasizes the importance of including all cinematographic genres in the study of audiovisual translation. Authors, such as Díaz Cintas (2003), have however focused mainly on the subtitling of humor, but even though we understand it was also an important part of intercultural communication, based on the theories about humor suggested by Vandaele (1999) for instance, this author fails to give much consideration to the cultural nature of humor and the impact this has on its audiovisual translation. Díaz Cintas (2003) however gives very good attention to humor’s cultural nature while giving proper consideration to the limitations which the translator faces in the translation of audiovisual humor in dubbing.
Regrettably, quantitative analysis by itself has not provided the complete description of the differences relating to humor transfer in dubbed versions. Martínez Sierra (2009) rightly notes that, following audiovisual translation, jokes are often affected not only by quantitative losses but qualitative changes as well. This essentially implies that not every element will receive a one to one rendering. (Martínez Sierra & Zabalbeascoa , 2017). According to Martinez (2005), humorous elements may eventually be lost during audiovisual translation; however the joke type can also be changed or even added.
Gaps in Current literature
The taxonomy of the humorous elements from Martinez-Sierra (2005) that itself adheres to the manner of classifying of various types of jokes by Zabalbeascoa (1996, 2005) has been noted in many research. Despite this, the analysis outcomes of the study indicate that the classification of humorous elements and their practical application in the field of audiovisual translation of humor still needs to be re-examined from the context of the barriers which the translator encounters when working with American English humor. Even though Zabalbeascoa (2005), proposes the eight different humorous elements in his work, audiovisual translation still needs further research in terms of the various translation processes characterized by the cultural types involved, and that give information via the visual as well as acoustic channels, so as to establish clear, realistic as well as flexible criteria for evaluating translations while considering the working environment and limitations of the translator.
Audiovisual translation has gotten its basis mainly from film translation that in combination with the translating of video and television products resulted in the particular expression of audiovisual translation. (Vandaele, 2010). There is still a need for qualitative research in the audiovisual translation of humor in the area of newer technologies including the internet in order to understand how the concepts of audiovisual translation of humor interacts with these advanced technology and the consumers are perceiving their practical applications. In addition to being the most important means of communicating between different cultures, the dubbing type of audiovisual translation currently has a very important role in daily life, even though many people hardly ever notice. (Martínez Sierra & Zabalbeascoa , 2017). As a result of this, there is need for more research on the awareness of consumers about the association between languages with which the translator achieves the most important duty of creation of the sense of community from intercultural relationships. These studies should examine the motives of consumers as well as their interest in audiovisual translation so as to encourage discussions about humor and its cultural reference to translation majorly, with focus on modern translations of humor in comedy within the context of the current world of globalization.
In researching dubbed version of English humor, a key part of the goal is the comparison between original versions with the dubbed versions. However, so as to have a meaningful comparison, it is important to note that there are many different definitions of this specific expression; however, it is defined by Agost (2004) as substituting the original soundtrack with a different one. This appears uncomplicated even though it involves many factors which occur during process, for example, visual as well as contextual consistency between an original and a dubbed version. Additional research is required to examine the relationship between the processes of dubbing in humor translation and the intertextual difficulties that are encountered so as to enhance these processes. Audiovisual translation of cultural reference or joke is a complex task. Because the reference has been complemented with an image, it presents major challenges in translating. (Chaume, 2004). Further research is needed to explore the relationship between aspects of cultural demographics and their impact on the challenges of audiovisual translation of humor in American English productions so as to enable a more successful as well as true humor translation.
Conclusion
The information provided by researchers who have conducted some of the most significant research topics in audiovisual translation of humor have created a better understanding of the processes of audiovisual translation while also improving the practical application of these concepts. Since audiovisual translation of humor presents major challenges in the first place, audiovisual translation has to re-create and adapt different types of humor from an original work through the use of human’s most influential capability, that of creativity. As analysis has shown, audiovisual translation of humor with different cultural references in many cases require creating new scripts that are different from original versions in relation to content therefore, extensive knowledge is needed in adapting these types of humor with cultural references for the intended audience.
References
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