Humour in/and self-translation

What is it about?

This chapter proceeds in a dialectical fashion. For the sake of argument, the first part takes the opposite view of the thesis according to which the translator’s identity must modify the parameters of translating different forms of humour (comedy, satire, irony, wordplay). Upon reflection, it appears that self-translators also face constraints inherent in this exercise, whether broader cultural transfers need to be re-contextualized or specific aspects raise questions of a linguistic or rhetorical nature. This observation allows for a clearer appreciation of the specificity of self-translation in a second part of the demonstration, where received notions such as agency or intention are examined anew.

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Why is it important?

Even in self-translation, agency is not unlimited, nor is access unmediated. The main advantage of self-translation resides elsewhere: in the possibility of embarking on a translation before completing the first text, that is, self-translating “simultaneously." (Grutman 1991)

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