Cross-cultural CommunicationFocus: Humor Interpreting

Cecilia He

Contents

• Difficulties of humor interpreting• What makes a good interpreter of humor?• Warm-up• Give it a go!

Difficulties of humor interpreting

A. Cultural references

traditions-泼水节， Feast of the sacrifice religions-佛教 , Christianity history-三国鼎立， the War of Roses literature-红楼梦， Emma food-回锅肉， lava chocolat arts-齐白石， Van Gogh language-一石二鸟， one stone, two birds lifestyle-天道酬勤， laid-back

Difficulties of humor interpreting

B. Wordplay (e.g. puns)-- I would like a book, please. -- Something light?-- It doesn’t matter. I have my car with me.

-- Is this my train?-- No, sir. It belongs to our company.-- Don’t be silly. Can I take this train to Toronto?-- No, sir. It’s much too heavy.

What makes a good interpreter of humor?

a. Be humorous;b. No word for word interpretation;c. Resist the temptation of pursuing perfect

fidelity, but try to find a joke that rings some of the same bells as the original;

d. Avoid over-explanation of Culture-bound humor.

Warm-up

1) War does not determine who is right – only who is left.

2) The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on the list.

3) The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Give it a go!

A funny speech of Joe Wong, who is called a Chinese man with American humor, at the

Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner.

THANK YOU!!!