croitoru translating jokes

7/21/2019 Croitoru Translating Jokes

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(TRANS)CULTURAL, IMAGINARY, HUMOROUS

Elena CROITORU*

Abstract: The paper points out the idea that transcultural flows make translation a

much more complex process, since the most appropriate solutions have to be found in rendering the concepts specific to the SLC by something which is specific to the TLC. Thus, the integrationof the new concepts in the TLC is of utmost importance, some of the most important steps of the

translating process being: imagining and converting the cognitive environment, making new assumptions, rethinking, reconceptualizing and rewording the context. ocus is laid on the main

steps in translating !okes, and an "xpectation # $%is&Confirmation model has been imagined interms of the T's( reaction to the translated !okes.

Keywords: transcultural flows, imaginary, humorous, reconceptualization,reader)recipient satisfaction in translating !okes, from negative disconfirmation to

positive)high confirmation.

Introduction

Each society has its own cultural traditions, which “supports rather thanundermines the Humboldtian view of language as an expression of culture” (Wierzbica!""#$ %&' oreover, the uni)ue character of the language spoen by a certaincommunity and its uni)ue cultural aspects express the close lin between the languagespoen by that community and its own way of living and thining'

*s Humboldt put it, “language is the identity of a nation”' +esides, “every

language draws about the people that possess it a circle whence it is possible to exitonly by stepping over at once into the circle of another one” (Humboldt #--$ %"&' +ystepping over the boundaries of one.s first language, one can loo at that language fromthe outside and become aware of the thic web of assumptions and values embeddedin it' (Wierbizca !""#&

/his holds so much the more valid about two very different languages such asEnglish and 0omanian$ English does not share anything with 0omanian, hence the greatdifferences between the cultural heritages of +ritain and 0omania'

1evertheless, the idea is entirely shared that

“cultures are not immutable essences, with clearly drawn boundaries' /hen, to reduce usall as cultural beings to members of myriad groups2crosscutting, overlapping, and ever evolving, means to overloo the central reality' ' ' ' no one is more acutely aware of this

reality than a bilingual who lives in two languages and cultures” (Wierzbica ##3$ -4see also !""5a, !""5b&'

6n the other hand, the idea is partially shared that immigrants to English7speaing countries are not interested in ac)uiring (*nglo& English'

When the problem of the immigrants. language is brought up, we consider 8ramsch.s (###$ !%& opinion worthwhile mentioning$

“immigrant language learners are increasingly disinclined to ' ' ' buy into the values and beliefs that underpin native speaer language use in their respective communities'”

9 %unarea de *os :niversity of ;alati, elena < cro i tor u =y ah oo' com

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8ramsch supports her view on this point with a )uote from 8risteva (#--$ "&$

“/he absorption of foreignness proposed by our societies turns out to be inacceptable > sic?for modern day individuals, who cherish their national and ethnic identity and their intrinsically sub@ective, irreducible difference”'

However, there are lots of biographical testimonies by immigrants to Englishspeaing countries proving that such a view does not match the reality' /hus, much asthey stic to their national and ethnic identity, when they live in a foreign country,they have to absorb a great deal of “foreignness” (*nglo English, *merican

English, Aanadian English, *ustralian English, 1ew Bealand English, etc&, becausethey have to share the same way of living, the same traditions, habits, and not only'However much they may absorb of that “foreignness”, and no matter the form

of English which too root in a different cultural soil, the ideal is to absorb as much asthey can from the “roots and trun of English”, given the fact that cultural heritage ismediated through the English language' However, this does not mean a rigid point of view in favour of “an increasingly public recognition of the global position of English”,i'e' English as a lingua franca'

TransculturalCeople living in a bilingual context need to be aware of their own unconsciousassumptions and values, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to get familiar tothe assumptions and values of the natives and, more than that, to understand and

ac)uire their speech practices' /his is rather difficult to achieve, being the cause of a large number of misunderstandings, due to mismatches in cultural assumptions' Dnorder to solve out such mismatches, “the tiny crevices of tal”, as iller (!"""$ !5!&calls them, need to be nown' /his is because it is in our everyday tal that recurring misinterpretations and misunderstandings arise which have much to dowith the concept of crossing linguistic borders.' “/he linguistic flows across

borders do not imply homogenization but reorganization of the local' 6ur suggestion is to label them as translinguistic flows'” (Aroitoru !"$ F&

Dt may not be exactly the same as Genuti.s (##-& concept of translingualism that refers to breaing the domesticating tendencies of reducing and even removingdifferences through translation'

*t a higher and more complex level, transcultural flows are well defined by Cennycoo (!""-$ %& as “the ways in which cultural forms move, change and arereused to fashion new identities in diverse contexts”' We share Cennycoo.s opinionthat this is not merely a )uestion of cultural movement but of

“tae7up, appropriation, change and refashioning' While not ignoring the manydetrimental effects of globalization on economies and >?, D am interested centrally herein the cultural implications of globalization, the ways in which cultural forms spread andchange”' (Cennycoo !""-$ %&

6n this line of thining, tae7up involves new parameters of meaning thatcannot be referred to as simple adoptions of either global or local practices'

/hus, transcultural flows are different from the simple phenomenon of crossing the linguistic borders., because they involve much more complex stagessuch as rethining and rewording' /he process of rewording presupposes theremaing one'

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/he processes of rethinking, remaking and rewording are followed by the most difficultand challenging stages, i'e' reconceptualization and cultural $re&production'Iurthermore, transcultural flows are viewed in terms of both fluidity, i'e'their movement across borders, and in terms of fixity, i'e' traditions, customs, values,

beliefs, etc'

“/hus, they are at the same time fluid and fixed, since they move across communities,nations and borders, on the one hand, and are rethought, remade, re7created in the local, i'e'localized and reconceptualized, on the other'” (Aroitoru !"$ 5&

Dn addition, no clear7cut distinction can be drawn between the fluid and fixed

character of transcultural flows' *s Cennycoo (!""-$ -& puts it,“>A?aught between fluidity and fixity, then, cultural and linguistic forms are always in astate of flux, always changing, always part of a process of the refashioning of identity'”

/he transcultural flows mae the process of translation much more than a process of encoding and decoding across languages, i'e' a process “of maing meaningacross and against codifications” (Cennycoo !""-$ 55&'

/his perspective has been assimilated by translators, the bilingual and bicultural negotiators, or bridge builders who have to fill in the gap betweentwo different cultures by bringing together two worlds with different values, beliefsand concepts'

“/he position of the bilingual and bicultural negotiator implies e)ual @udgement of thevalues and concepts in both JKA and /KA, clarifications of meaning, finding the mostappropriate solutions in the ways of rendering the concepts specific to the JKA, maingnew assumptions before reformulating the message(s& and reconceptualizing what isspecific to the JKA in order to match the /KA context' /hat is to say, the translator has tointegrate new concepts in the /KA'” (Aroitoru !"$ %&

*ll this can be represented as in Iig' $

Integrating new concepts in the TLC

&'$

conce(ts

LMecodingoriginal intention

LDdentifyingunderlyingassumptionsLaingmetapragmaticcommentsLAlarifyingmeaningand explaining

L*voiding meaning→ distortion

LImagining and converting the

cognitive environmentLaing new assumptions LRethinking over thetext

TLC concepts

LCaraphrasing

→ L

Reconceptualizing the messageRemaking L0eformulating theideasLRewording thecontent

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/he integration of new concepts in the /KA can very well be applied totranslating humour, with reconceptualization and rewording as the last stages of thetranslating process' Dn translating humour, more often than not, the /0s are not familiar with the cultural environment of the J/' /hus, metapragmatic comments,

paraphrases, clarifications of meaning and explanations are necessary for the right

rewording of the message in eeping with the necessary reformulations andreconceptualizations' Dn order to achieve such goals, the translator need to imagine

the TRs reaction to the translation product and ifN howN to what extent they willaccept it'

Imaginar!/he view of translation as a form of linguistic and cultural practice which

preserves the identity of the “6ther”, and 0icOur.s (##!& concept of “oneself asanother” may lead to the interpretation of the relationship between translation andidentity in cultural diversity as being related to the concept of “one imagining oneself asanother”' 6n this line of thining, it would also be interesting to relate 0icOr.s notionof the “ingdom of the as if” to translation, possibly interpreted to be in aclose relationship with the cultural and linguistic imaginary'

*s mentioned above, transcultural flows presuppose location, tradition andcultural expression in the reorganization of the local, which has much to do with acommunity.s cultural imaginary' Dn dealing with a community.s cultural imaginary, thedefinition of culture and the concept of imaginary are considered to be the starting point'*lmost all definitions of culture refer to values and beliefs, to assumptions, focus being

laid on meaning (productionNreproduction of meaning, sharing meaning and exchangeof meaning& which is at the core of a culture'Dt is interesting that something new has been lately added to the concepts of

culture and imaginary, i'e' the migrant community, based on the migrants. experience asa form of cultural imaginary$ the way migrants imagine their own culture in a space thatloos lie a “no man.s land” due to the loss of the sense of belonging' 1ot only do theyimagine their own culture, but also they create a sense of relatedness to a particular time,

place and condition (Aamacho !""-&'Dn other words, the cultural imaginary can be said to mae up for the loss of the

sense of belonging, thus leading to the concepts of a nation as an “imaginedcommunity” (nationhood& and identity' /herefore, cultural imaginary is sociallyconstructed to suit the needs of a community, of a particular group, on the one hand, andto form the sense of belonging to the community, on the other'

Ahanging the original “no man.s land” space into a shared space, i'e' the space people share, and the connections N bonds and laces they create in the respective spaceto tie the society together will enrich the notion of meaning with the sense of communion' /he meaning enrichment is imagined and made possible, i'e' applied tothat community only within certain cultural parameters' /his reminds of Kacan.s (##3$!& idea of the imaginary as one of the three intersecting orders that structure humanexistence (besides the symbolic and the real&, on the one hand, and of Kaing.s (#%#$P-7F"& argument about our being drawn into social phantasy systems, thus about theexperience of being in a particular set of human collectivities'

Aonsidering the social constructions of the imaginary, it “can have very realeffects”, as acey (##F$ xxi& puts it' *s a matter of fact, long before him, referenceshad been made to the imaginary of the society, in the sense that it “creates for eachhistorical period its singular way of living, seeing and maing its own existence”

/hompson #-F$ !P&'

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/he changes at all levels, at a given time, have real effects upon language' /herelevance of the cultural “baggage” embedded in the language goes hand in hand withexploring the content of that baggage, which is important for the practice of language'Dt is also important to identify the historically shaped cultural meanings embedded inthe language'

*t the language level, the imaginary and non7imaginary states of the languagemay co7exist even in the same sentence' Dn this respect, the *laddin.s Kamp Jtate, i'e'the state of wishful7thining (JW/& (Cimpel #3%$ P5%7P53& is worth mentioning'

/he linguistic imaginary is closely connected with the possible worlds theory,hence with the meanings and uses of the sub@unctive (hypothetical meaning&, with

epistemis modalities, modulation, etc' Jpecifically, at the lexical level, in comparingdifferent languages in use, one can find that, though they have words which intranslations and dictionaries are supposed to “correspond” to one another,

“yet there is scarce one of ten amongst the names of complex ideas ' ' ' that stands for thesame precise idea which the word does in dictionaries it is rendered by” (Wierzbica!""#$ P"!&'

/he connection between linguistic choices and the imagined situational andcultural contexts is of utmost importance' Ior the semantic and lexico7grammaticallevels, Halliday and artin.s circles model (##P& is relevant because it relies on thelexical choices Q language Q in a social context' Dn such a social context, thecommunicative levels of genre (cultural context& and register (situational context& are

decisive in the communicative act of interpretation and translation'"umorous

Humour is a multi7dimensional process, it relies on mutually independentelements such as the text, the speaer and listener(s&, and the context, which allfall under the systemic common denomination of system7incorporating networ'(Copa !""5&

“Humour is the ability to appreciate the situations when wordplay is funny or amusing'/he word situations refers to the fact that humour is socially dependent and depends oninteraction in a process between people' +ordplay refers to the language content inhumour' (Copa !""5$ 5F&

/he translator.s tas of a mediator becomes most difficult in translatinghumour# /ranslating humour is translating cultures' Dn other words, cultural mediationwith humorous prose, comedies, @oes, puns is extremely complex, becausethe translator has to overcome lots of obstacles and traps generated by

polysemy, homonymy, troublesome words, especially by ambiguities' /he greatestdifficulty is discussed in terms of acceptability, and consists in finding thee)uivalent. in the /KA that will be accepted by the /0s' /he degree of acceptabilitywill be @udged by the /0s. response' Df the response is the expected one, it meansthat the translator was able to cross the bridge between the two cultures and fill thecultural gap' Dt means that (s&he found the right gap fillers.' /he complexity of thehumour translation lies in that it has to tae into consideration the transfer of thesituational, cultural, and linguistic content of the JK @oe to the /KA not to mention theJopos of the translation' Jopos7oriented

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translation procedures are highly relevant for humorous texts, in general and for @oes,in particular'

*s suggested above, translation can be viewed as a “relocation of meaning”,which consists in contextualizing meaning' /he relocation of meaning is relevant for cultural dynamics, in close connection with transcultural flows, as well as for imaginarysituational and cultural contexts'

/he idea of meaning relocation may prove useful in the analysis and evaluationof translations, especially with (un&successful translations of humour from English into0omanian and viceversa' Dt is the heterogeneous phenomenon of humour that may maetranslations unsuccessful, besides the misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the

cultural items' oreover, the same signifiers may be understood in different ways indifferent language cultures, and people belonging to different speech communities mayhave different attitudes towards humorous texts, in general, or specifically @oes,wordplays, puns, in particular'

Translating $okes

Dn the case of different cultures and languages, it is often very difficult to do aneffective translation of a @oe because it needs to be explained$ it needs extensiveexplanations and footnotes' Dn such situations, the target readers (/0.s might notunderstand the stereotype, hence they might not get the point' *t this point,mention should be made of the disagreement about what is funny in differentcountries, for people belonging to different nations' What is funny or a harmless @oefor some may be embarrassing, or offending, or illegal for others, not to mention the

humour control in the communist period which used to affect the type of humour' Dnthis respect, a good example can be the strange, or embarrassing situations in whichimmigrants may find themselves if they misunderstand or misinterpret some @oe, or even worse, when they entirely miss the point'

:nderstanding @oes is entirely dependent on the /0s. recognition of thelinguistic and cultural features contained in the utterance' Iurthermore,)uivalence needs to be reconsidered in favour of the sopos which is presumably toamuse'6n this line of thining, other )uestions may arise$ Mo culturally different /0s laughat the same words, or is the amusement the same when they read or hear a @oeR Df theydo not react to the @oe, to what extent does this depend on culture7specific

presuppositions and in what degree on the )uality of the translation, given that the)uality of translation is a very important variable in “tasting” a @oe, in maing or

breaing itR /o put it differently, how much does the effect of the translated @oes depend on cultural differences, on individual differences, or on the translationitselfR

*s a general coordinate, in translating @oes, the first step is to analyze the passage, to find out what maes it funny and to state the type of humour'

0aphaelson7West (#-#$ P"& divided @oes into three groups$ “' linguistic,such as puns4 !' cultural, such as ethnic @oes4 P' universal, such as the unexpected”'

Kinguistic @oes mae use of words meaning something linguistic and whichare similar to the words they rhyme with' Df they mean something linguistically, theywill give a meaning to the sentence' However, it rarely happens that a similar, or rhyming word or idiomatic expression may fit the context perfectly or to such an extentthat the /0.s can get the right point' /his is because in the JK, the humour comes froman ambiguity which cannot be rendered in the /K where there will be little humour in a

literal translation'

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/here are also situations when the humour comes from misunderstandingand misinterpreting an idiom, hence from translating it literally' ore often thannot, the translation of such @oes will be hilarious'

Kast but not least, 0aphaelson7West.s (#-#$P!& opinion is worthwhilementioning about the humour and irony of the sentence “D.ll teach you to steal” which

“means exactly the opposite of the surface structure' Alues lie in intonation and context' Dtis important to realize, therefore, that this @oe contains linguisticallyoriented humour andalthough it translates well into English, it would not translate well into other languages'”(emphasis in the original&

/herefore, linguistic @oes will not be efficient in translation by themselves, but as practical examples in teaching foreigners about linguistic structures of the JK'With cultural @oes, there are a lot of situations when the stereotype is very

difficult to understand, or even not understood, and the point is missed' /his is due tothe (great& differences between the two language cultures' Jemantically speaing, the

@oes may have the same meaning, but in terms of pragmatics and culture, they areuntranslatable' /hen, the )uestion may arise$ What is the translator supposed to doR /hemost appropriate answer is that (s&he has to find and use what is specific to the targetlanguage culture (/KA&' Dn other words, the humour has to be rendered in such a waythat it will be accepted by the /0.s' /hat is to say, it has to be reconceptualized'0econceptualization is an extremely important stage in the translating process of @oes'

/hus, in terms of intercultural communication, translating humour, in general,and @oes, in particular, is a real challenge for translators due to the linguistic and

cultural specificity' 1ot only linguistic but also cultural differences are real obstacles to positive humour response across cultures':niversal @oes are described by 0aphaelson7West (#-#$ P& as “bicultural

@oes”, based on the argument that

>? there being semantic universals, D venture to say that there are a good number of cultures which would find the following situations funny$a& a child maing extremely mature, adult7lie statements4 b& a victim getting harmless but embarrassing revenge on his offender4c& the unexpected, unusual response'

6ne of the fre)uent solutions in translating @oes is translating the idea of something funny, of exaggerating something ridiculous, not of translating the text itself'Dn translating @oes, the grammatical analysis is very important' Dn maing such an

analysis, 1ida7/aber.s (#-!$ PP& three steps are still worth mentioning$

' analysis of the surface structure in terms of a& grammatical relationships and b&meanings and combinations of words4!' transfer of analyzed material to the target language4P' restructuring of the transferred material so that it becomes acceptable in the targetlanguage'

Reader % recipient satisfaction in translating $okes0eader N recipient satisfaction (0J& can be defined in terms of the impact

which the translated @oes have on the target readers (/0s&, i'e' in terms of their reaction'Dn order to measure the 0J, or the degree of the 0J, we imagined an Expectation Q

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(Mis&Aonfirmation odel (Iig' !&' Juch a model may show that an individual.sexpectations are$

a& confirmed if the /0s. reaction is as expected4 b& positively N highly confirmed if the /0s. reaction is better than expecteed4c& wealy confirmed if the /0s. reaction is not as good as it was expected4d& negatively disconfirmed if the /0s. reaction is poorerNworse than expected'

&ig# ' Representation of (trans)cultural imaginar! humorous

1egative

disconfirmation

Wea Aonfirmation Aonfirmation CositiveNHigh

confirmation

SKac of

satisfactionNdelight

SKac of )ualityimplementation

SKac of performance

S

Kac of competence

S

isinterpretationS

isunderstanding

SDnabilityNKac of comprehension

SKow satisfactionNdelight

SKow )uality

implementationS

Kow performanceS

Kac of creativity

SAonstraintsT

S+asic “musts”T

SDndifference

↗ ST istranslation

↘

Sissing the point

↖ ↖

High satisfactionNdelight

SJuccessful translation

SHigh )uality implementation

SHigh performance

SJtyle and register

SAreativity

US“Melighters”

SDmaginary

S

0ight interpretationS

0ight understandingS

;ood Aomprehension

6n the one hand, confirmation (a& and positive N high confirmation (b& bringsatisfaction and high satisfaction, respectively, to the /0s shown in their having(much& fun, as a result of good comprehension, understanding, rightinterpretation and successful translation' ention should be made about thetranslator.s nowledge of the basic “musts” and of both JK and /K constraints'oreover, the translator.s good handling of the “delighter.s”, besides the register and style aspects, will lead to high performance, conse)uently to high )ualitytranslations, thus providing high satisfaction N delight to the /0s' /he fact should beadded that an extremely important coordinate of translating humorous texts, @oes,

puns, etc is the translator.s creativity not only in

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rendering the culture 7 specific elements, but also in maing theapparently untranslatable translatable on condition of its maing the same sense inthe target language culture (/KA&, thus having the same impact on the /0s andmaing them accept it, on the one hand, and be very pleased, on the other' /o put itdifferently, the degree of acceptability depends on the effect that piece of humorous

prose, or pun, or @oe, etc has in the /KA4 it has to be the same as the JKA effect'6n this line of thining, it is nown that there are lots of situations and

contexts where there is a lower degree of acceptability with translating humorous prose,in general, and with translating @oes, in particular, the cause being not the translator.s

poor (or lac of& nowledge of the /KA norms and constraints, but the means of

expression specific to each language culture especially in achieving the play uponwords that maes the humorous effect' /his may be illustrated by the followingexample$

e'g. - married iss 'ight. - !ust didn(t know her first name was /lways. $Tibballs 0112:

344&

5ou may marry the man of your dreams, but 36 years later you(re married to a couch that burps. $Tibballs 0112: 017&

+hat do you call a man89

+hat do you call a man with a spade on his head9 # %oug

+hat do you call a man without a spade on his head9 # %ouglas.+hat do you call a man with a seagull on his head9 # Cliff.

+hat do you call a man with a car on his head9 # *ack.+hat do you call a man with 1 rabbits up his ass9 # +arren.

+hat do you call a man with three eyes9 # Seymour.

+hat do you call a man who has lost 41 per cent of his brain9 # / widower.

$Tibballs 0112: 033&

/ cop spotted a woman driving and knitting at the same time.;<ull over=> he called.;?o, officer, it(s a scarf=> $Tibballs 0112: 062&

+hy are families like a box of chocolates9 # They(re mostly sweet, with a few

nuts. $Tibballs 0112: 30@&

+hat do you get if an elephant sits on your best friend9 # / flat mate.

/ pollster was taking opinions outside the Anited ?ations building in ?ew 5ork . Be approached four men # a Saudi, a 'ussian, a ?orth orean and a resident ?ew 5orker. To each one he said: ;"xcuse me, - would like to ask you your opinion on the current meat shortage.The Saudi replied: ;"xcuse me, what is a shortage9> The 'ussian replied: ;"xcuse me, what is meat9>

?orth orean replied: ;"xcuse me, what is an opinion9>

The ?ew 5orker replied: ;"xcuse me, what is Dexcuse me(9> $$Tibballs 0112: 071&

+hat did the cannibal had when he was late for dinner9 The cold shoulder $@1&

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Bave you heard about the cannibal restaurant where dinner costs an arm and a leg9

/ man was captured by cannibals. ;+hat,> asked the cannibal chief, licking his

lips, ;was your !ob before you were captured9>

;- was a newspaper man,> came the reply. ;/n editor9>;?o, merely a subeditor.>

;Cheer up. <romotion awaits you. /fter dinner you will be editor in chief.> $24&

Juch contexts are relevant for the distinction that needs to be drawn betweenthe situations of wea confirmation generated by the translator.s lac of creativity andlow performance that lead to low )uality translations, conse)uently providing lowsatisfaction N delight to the /0s, and the situations of wea confirmation generated bythe lac of the ade)uate means of expression in the /KA, which will result inunsuccessful translations missing the effect and the play upon words, “the salt and

pepper” of the original' Dn other words, mere ade)uacy is not sufficient in translatinghumorous prose, in general, and @oes, in particular, for the end users. delight whoexpect top )uality translations'

6n the other hand, negative disconfirmation is caused by the inability N lac of comprehension, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the original, all these leadingto mistranslation, hence to the /0s. missing the point and, finally, to their indifference'

ention should be made that such situations show lac of competence which leads, ona higher level, to lac of performance, hence to unsuccessful translations and donot provide any satisfaction at all to the /0s'

Dn our opinion, the aspects we included in the middle column (from missing the point to wea confirmation&, whose starting points, i'e' causes, are inabilityNlac of comprehension, misunderstanding and misinterpretation which finally lead to the /0s.indifference (generated by mistranslation and by the /0s. missing the point&, seem to berelated to the third type of an individual.s reaction, i'e' wea confirmation' However,they may also be related to the fourth type of an individual.s reaction, i'e' negativedisconfirmation, accounted for by the causes mentioned above'

Conclusions

Cartly universal, partly individual, yet rooted in a specific cultural and

linguistic context, translating humour is a real challenge for translators' Whenundertaing such a tas, a number of factors need to be taen into consideration' Iirstand foremost, the translator has to decide whether the /0s will understand the humour'Jecondly, what is most difficult to do is to render the humour7inducing effect of the J/'/o put it differently, (s&he has to mae the JKA humour function as humour in the/KA' Dn this respect, it is a real fact that the translator.s ability to mae creativechoices and decisions is often tested by culturally bound elements and language7specific devices'

/hus, the main conclusion to be drawn is that humour is translatable and itstranslatability depends on the language7specific devices, on the means of expressionspecific to each language' Dn other words, the target text may not be as humorous as theoriginal' ore often than not, it is even less humorous, or, sometimes it may even missthe right point in various degrees' /he idea is to be constantly aware of the culturalcontext, to grasp the humorous aspect in the J/, then to explain, rethin and, when

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needed, reconceptualize it in order to ensure the transference of humour into the /K'Df the /K/ is not amusing, or if it is even less humorous than the JK/, the translator will have to write a new /KA7based @oe in order to be accepted and “tasted” by the/0s' Aonse)uently, the basic aspect in translating humour is the effect upon the T's'/hus, the translation of such texts is effectoriented '

Bb!o"ra#$y*ttardo, Jalvatore' !""!' /ranslation and Humour' The Translator -' 3P7#F'*nderson, +enedict' !""%' -magined Communities' Kondon$ Gerso+aer, ', ##!, Dn 6ther Words' * Aourseboo on /ranslation, Kondon and 1ew Vor$0outledge+ennett, ' ilton' ##-' +asic Aoncepts of Dntercultural Aommunication$ Jelected 0eadings'Dntercultural Cress'+uhrig, 8ristin, an M' ten /hi@e' !""%' Eeyond misunderstanding, Linguistic analyses of

intercultural communication' *msterdam$ ohn +en@amins Cublishing Aompany'Ahiaro, M'A' Heiss and A' +ucaria' !""-' Eetween Text and -mage' *msterdamNChiladelphia$ohn +en@amins Cublishing HouseAroitoru, Elena' !"' Translating -dentity: 'ethinking, 'ight +ording and 'econceptualizationXn 'omanian *ournal of "nglish Studies, no' -, !", DJJ1 5-F7P3PF, Eitura :niversitYZii deGest, /imi[oara, pp' F% Q 5FHall, Jtuart' ##%' 'epresentation: Cultural 'epresentations and Signifying <ractices (Aultureedia and Ddentities Jeries&' Kondon$ Jage Cublications'Humboldt, Wilhelm von' #--' 6n language$ the diversity of human language structure and itsinfluence on the mental development of manind' /rans' Ceter Heath' Aambridge$ Aambridge:niversity Cress

enins, ' !""3' "nglish as a Lingua ranca: /ttitude and -dentity. 6xford$ 6:C8ramsch, A' ###' ;lobal and local identities in the contact zone' Dn ;nutzmann (ed'& /eachingand Kearning English as a ;lobal Kanguage$ 1ative and 1on7native Cerspectives' /\bingen$Jtauffenburg Gerlag, pp' P7FP8risteva, ulia' #--' ]trangers ^ nous7m_mes' Caris$ ;allimardKaing, 0' M' #%#' Self and Fthers' Cenguin +oosacey, Mavid' ##F' “Dntroduction”' ac)ue Kacan' The our undamental Concepts of <sycho

/nalysis. Kondoniller, Kaura' !"""' 1egative *ssessmentsin apanese7*merican worplace interaction' Dn HelenJpencer Q6atey (ed'& Aulturally Jpeaing$ anaging 0apport through /al *cross Aultures'Kondon$ Aasell' !F"7!5F 1ida, Eugene, *' !"", Language and CultureContexts in Translation. Jhanghai$ JhanghaiIoreign Kanguage Education Cress' 1ida, Eugene *' and Aharles 0' /aber (#-!& The Theory and <ractice of Translation, vol' DDD of

Helps for /ranslators, Keiden, E' ' +rillCennycoo, *' !""-' Global "nglishes and Transcultural lows' Kondon and 1ew Vor$0outledgeCimpel, *' #3%' <reliminary -nsights into -maginary Language. /n -ntroduction. Ahesterfield$Aurious *cademic +oosCopa, Miana Elena, !""5, *okes and Translation, Cerspectives,P$,F- 2 530aphaelson7West, Mebra (#-#& “6n the Ieasibility and Jtrategies of /ranslating Humour”, inE/*, vol' PF, no', pp' !-7F, http$NNwww'erudit'orgNrevueNmetaN#-#NvPFNnJchmidt Aamacho, *licia' !""-' igrant -maginaries$ LatinoCultural <olitics in the AS exico Eorderlands. 1ew Vor$ 1V:C/hompson, ohn' #-F' Studies in the Theory of -deology/ibballs, ;eoff' !"""N!""%' The ammoth Eook of *okes. Kondon$ 0obinsonWierzbica, *nna' ##3' :nderstanding cultures through their ey words$ English, 0ussian,Colish, ;erman and apanese' 1ew Vor$ 6xford :niversity CressWierzbica, *nna' !""5a' Dn defence of culture.' Theory and <sychology' 5 (F&$ 53575#3

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Wierzbica, *nna' !""5b' :niversal Human Aoncepts as a tool for exploring bilingual lives' -nternational *ournal of Eilingualism # (&$ 37!%Wierzbica, *nna' !""#' eaning and Aulture' 6xford$ 6:C'

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