Is it possible to translate humour?
Translating humour is often difficult, as humour consists of cultural references in the source language, often full of stereotypes, inside jokes and references to characters from a certain context. Creativity is essential in order to maintain the humour component, even if it inevitably means sometimes moving away from the original text.
Tradition and the low level of foreign language skills have fostered a strong culture of dubbing in audiovisual media in countries such as Spain and Italy. The presence of new platforms such as HBO or Netflix has opened up a new range of possibilities when it comes to choosing the language in which content is consumed.
Humour has a strong cultural component, and the translation of humour, like poetry, is an art and sometimes a nightmare that professionals deal with in different ways. The original message may be adapted and modified in order to resonate with the audience in the target language: a “cultural equivalence” is sought. In other cases, the translation is omitted (maintaining the source language) or a literal translation is chosen, adding an explanation (which is very difficult in audiovisual media).
The translation of humour is not a simple translation, but a true localisation: understanding the humorous concept, but adapting it to a different culture in order to achieve the same or a similar effect on the audience. This, as we know, is not always possible or successful.
However, thanks to the current globalisation and the internationalisation of some cultural topics (films, series, internet…) a shared culture has been created. Millennials all over the world know what “WTF”, “LOL”, “Ok boomer” mean.
If translation is necessary, translating humorous content involves creativity, as the aim is to naturalise humour.
It is a task that only professionals with a great knowledge of the source and target languages can achieve, as the effectiveness of humour is based on the fact that the sender and receiver share the same cultural and linguistic references.
At Converta Translations we understand the subtleties of humour, and we ensure a translation that is appropriate for each context and audience.
