Found in Translation: Crosstalk as a form of humour

Translation is a strategy that is frequently adopted to achieve a comic effect on screen by, for example, creating humour through interlingual misunderstandings or deliberately clumsy attempts at translation itself. However, when films availing to such devices undergo translation, over and above the usual problems connected with dubbing and subtitling, a series of obstacles connected with the ‘translation of translation’ also need to be faced. Operators not only have the problem of dealing with the instances of Verbally Expressed Humour they contain, but also of finding a solution to the insertion of another language in the target dialogues. Thus a twofold difficulty is created. This essay will exemplify the different ways in which translation is exploited as a comic device on screen and the translational strategies employed to transfer them interlingually.