Translating Humor

Humor is one of the most difficult things to translate. If someone comes across a joke in a manga or elsewhere should he try to provide a literal translation at the expense of the comedy or should he try provide a loose translation/replace the line in order to keep it funny at the expense of preserving the meaning?

Obviously not every situation is identical, but what do you think as a general rule?

I always think translations should retain the author's intent.

To use Berserk as an example, if Puck imitates a famous sumo wrestler, I don't want Dark Horse translating it as fucking Rick Flair. A small note could be made about the significance of the reference in the liner notes or something like that.

Walter said:

I always think translations should retain the author's intent.

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Agreed.

I think a little cultural note is good enough with a literal translation.

It's a hard dilemma. I also go for conveying the original meaning and adding a little cultural note to explain it.

Yeah, but it's hard, even with a cultural note, to understand a joke that target's a specific thing in a specific culture.
Each case is a case that's my M.O.

Walter said:

I always think translations should retain the author's intent.

To use Berserk as an example, if Puck imitates a famous sumo wrestler, I don't want Dark Horse translating it as fucking Rick Flair. A small note could be made about the significance of the reference in the liner notes or something like that.

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Couldn't have said it better myself.

fuxberg said:

Each case is a case that's my M.O.

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Each case is different, you mean? I still think that an explanation of the reference to whatever culture the joke is commenting on is the way to go, rather than change the translation completely.

I dislike cultural-specific jokes and I'm from Europe and have no idea who Rick Flair is either lol. I wouldn't laugh either way. There's plenty of other humorous stuff I prefer in the images and immediate situations in Berserk that I could care less about the cultural ones.

Rhombaad said:

I still think that an explanation of the reference to whatever culture the joke is commenting on is the way to go, rather than change the translation completely.

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Depends, sometimes it's kinda obvious. example : i think there is a scene with Puck where he's doing a Yoda parody or something. Most of the people will understand where it comes from, compared to something that can just have happened in japan or somewhere else. but true that most of the time a note should be efficient enough.

jackson_hurley said:

Depends, sometimes it's kinda obvious. example : i think there is a scene with Puck where he's doing a Yoda parody or something. Most of the people will understand where it comes from, compared to something that can just have happened in japan or somewhere else. but true that most of the time a note should be efficient enough.

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Global references are exceptions. Like you said, most people reading Berserk are going to recognize the Yoda reference. I was referring to references that are specific to the Japanese culture, or a play on Japanese words, stuff like that.

As has been said, always go with the author's original reference. After that, it's up to the audience to understand the reference or not, whether it's from another culture or their own. There's plenty of native references people don't get anyway.

Humor is more than cultural references. What if translators come across puns or words with multiple meanings?

Isn't that the same kind of interpretation that goes into any translation work, humorous or not? Beyond that, it once again comes down to what's funny in Japanese might not be funny or make sense in English, but I'd still rather know what the author's original meaning was, for even if I can't fully appreciate it, at least it will be acknowledged.

Griffith No More! said:

Isn't that the same kind of interpretation that goes into any translation work, humorous or not?

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Yes, but I just happened to be the most interested in humor at the moment.

Griffith No More! said:

Beyond that, it once again comes down to what's funny in Japanese might not be funny or make sense in English, but I'd still rather know what the author's original meaning was, for even if I can't fully appreciate it, at least it will be acknowledged.

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I agree with what you all said about cultural references. In the case of puns, however, I wish that translators were allowed to make a liberal interpretation of the joke to preserve the intended emotional impact but then have a precise explanation of the original pun right next to it. Unfortunately, that seems impractical.

Peregrine_Falcon said:

In the case of puns, however, I wish that translators were allowed to make a liberal interpretation of the joke to preserve the intended emotional impact but then have a precise explanation of the original pun right next to it. Unfortunately, that seems impractical.

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Yes, I realize too literal a translation can actually be less accurate to the spirit of the dialogue, the problem is that it's such a fine line that one would have to be a translating virtuoso to consistently find the "perfect" balance, and the only way I could judge would be if I could understand and compare both languages myself... which would make it a moot point. So, that's why I prefer the literal route, putting the onus on me to understand it better from my culture's point of view, since that's the side I'm qualified to interpret anyway. When I wrote my last post I was thinking something similar to your idea of a liberal and then literal translation, except the other way around; I'd want the literal translation in the text, and then maybe a glossary explaining it with an example of a more liberal interpretation to convey the meaning. Of course, we'll both have to keep dreaming. =)

Griffith No More! said:

the problem is that it's such a fine line that one would have to be a translating virtuoso to consistently find the "perfect" balance

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Pretty much, and even then it's still likely to be simply impossible.

You have to admit that the thought of Puck "Stylin' and Profiling" like the Nature boy sounds pretty awesome. WOOOOOOOO!


Anyways, yadda yadda, literal translation with an authors note on the side.