外语专业毕业论文-老友记幽默分析.doc

中南民族大学辅修论文(设计)辅修 外语 学院 2006 级 英语 专业主修 经济 学院 2006 级 金融专业题目： Humor Translation in Friends 学生： 马鑫 学号： 06091051 指导老师： 李明2009年 5 月 20 日Humor Translation in Friends老友记幽默翻译ByMA XinA thesissubmitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofBachelor of Arts in the College of Foreign LanguagesSouth-Central University for NationalitiesMay 2009中南民族大学本科毕业论文（设计）原创性声明本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取得的研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 作者签名： 2009 年 5 月 20 日 AcknowledgementsI would like to take this opportunity to express my great gratitude to my supervisor, Li Ming, from whom I have received valuable instructions and innovative suggestions. Without his kindness and encouragement, my thesis would have been impossible.Also, I owe my heartfelt gratitude to all the teachers who have instructed me during my academic pursuit in the past three years.Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents. Their consistent financial and emotional support has been effective impetus in the course of my thesis composing.AbstractHumor, specific to human beings, is the seasoning of our daily life and an indispensable part of human speech. It not only plays an important role in the improvement of the interpersonal relationships in social activities of many kinds, but also becomes the symbol of personal wit, glamour and education. Through lots of examples, this thesis attempts to make an analysis on the translation of English humorous remarks in Friends. The thesis begins with the introduction to research background and the previous research achievement which are relevant with humor. Then the author discusses the defination and classification of humor as well as some issues which have tight relation to sitcom. In the main part of the thesis, the author tries to make a deep analysis on the three translation skills adopted in the translation of humorious conversations in Friends -annotation, paraphrase, and adaptation.In brief, by using several translation skills, the Chinese subtitles deepen our understanding of humor elements in source language and also plays an important roll in our appreciation of Friends.Key words: humor, translation skills, sitcom, Friends摘要幽默是人类日常生活的调味品，也是人类言语必不可少的一部分。它不仅在多种社会交往中起着改善人际关系的作用，而且已成为个人智慧、魅力和教育的象征。本文罗列了大量例子，来对情景喜剧老友记中的幽默语言翻译进行分析。文章先对与幽默相关的研究背景和前人的研究成果做了介绍，接着讨论了幽默的定义，分类，以及与之紧密联系的情景喜剧的相关问题。在本文的主题部分，作者结合了英语翻译的三项技巧-加注，释义，归化，对美国情景喜剧老友记中的幽默对话的翻译进行了深入的分析。总之，通过对各项翻译技巧的运用，中文字幕深化了我们对原语言幽默元素的理解，并且对我们欣赏老友记发挥着重要作用。关键词：幽默；翻译技巧；情景喜剧；老友记Table of Contents AcknowledgementsiAbstractii摘要1 Introduction11.1 Research background11.2 Literature review11.3 Framework of the thesis42 Humor in Friends52.1 Definition of humor52.2 Humor and sitcom62.3 Classification of humor in Friends62.3.1The verbal humor in Friends62.3.1.1 Punning62.3.1.2 Ambiguity72.3.1.3 Violations of logic72.3.2 The non-verbal humor in Friends82.3.2.1Paralanguage82.3.2.2 Visual information83 Skills of Humor Translation In Friends103.1 Annotation in Friends103.2 Paraphrase in Friends123.3 Adaptation in Friends144 Conclusion18References20211 Introduction1.1 Researche BackgroundWith the rapid development of globalization, people all over the world are trying to know each other better than before. Watching movie is an effective way to know others, so in recent years, we have witnessed that more and more foreign movies have been introduced to China. Situation comedies are among them.Movie translation is a kind of audio-visual translation, which is different from other kinds of translation. While the viewers appreciate the movies, they not only watch what the actors or actresses are doing but also hear what they are saying at the same time.Humor, specific to human beings, is the seasoning of our daily life and an indispensable part of human speech. It not only plays an important role in the improvement of the interpersonal relationships in social activities of many kinds, but also becomes the symbol of personal wit, glamour and education. For a long time, humor has attracted the attention and interest of scholars in many fields. The researches can range from traditional fields such as psychology, physiology and philosophy to broader ones such as anthropology, pedagogy, aesthetics, sociology, etcthis thesis makes a research on the humors translation in English sitcom. It is known that nowadays in China, more and more attention has been put on creating a positive environment for students language learning, and people have realized that humor is an effective means in EFL, however, the implementation of integrating humor with the whole of teaching effectively is far from satisfactory. Therefore, the translation skill will help the viewers receive the same humorous effect as much as possible. However, and this thesis will, more or less, serve to be a great help in the realization of the good mixing of humor and English teaching with resort to its in-depth analysis of English humor, and therefore, is of great practical significance.1.2 Literature ReviewDifferent researches of humor appear in different periods. Traditionally, there exist three dominant theories: Superiority Theory, Release Theory and Incongruity Theory. Currently, the Script-based Semantic Theory, General Theory, and Audience-based Theory have held peoples attention in the following, The following will make a detailed account brief introduction of the six three traditional theories mentioned above.Superiority Theory was finally developed by Thomas Hobbes. he explains that humans are in constant competitions with each other, and looking for shortcomings of other persons. Laughing at the inferior builds our self-confidence and makes us feel superior. Release Theories primarily a psychological one about humor, Freud explains that the psychic energy in our body is built as an aid for suppressing feelings in taboo areas, like sex or death. When this energy is released, laughter can be experienced, not only because this energy is released, but also these taboo thoughts are being entertained.Incongruity Theory is formally proposed by Kant and Schopenhauer. Kant, a scholar in the eighteenth century, says that humor arises from the sudden transformation of a strained expectation into nothing. According to Schopenhauers definition of laughter The cause of laughter in every case is simply the sudden perception of the incongruity between a concept and the real objects which have been thought through it in some relation, and laughter itself is just the expression of this incongruity. The incongruity theory makes a statement about the stimulus; the superiority theory characterizes the relations or attitudes between the speaker and hearer; and the release/relief theory comments on the feelings and psychology of the hearer.However, in recent years, humor translation theory in sitcom is still comparatively a new field.In the past years in China, some researchers have made some studies in movie translation from different perspectives. For example, Professor Zhang Chunbo(1998) and Professor Qiao Shaochang(2000) point out the nature and characteristics of this field of translation and analyze principles and skills during translation. Zhang Guangfa(2006) and Hou Chunsheng(2008) mainly analyze movie translation from the cultural perspective. Zhang Guangfa analyzes the translation of culture-loaded images in films, and suggests that translators should deal with this problem both from the synchromic and diachronic perspectives. Hou Chunsheng analyzes the movie translation in cultural conflict. Dong Haiya(2007) analyzes the current situation and development of movie translation, dspecially studies on the western ones from multi-angle translation perspective. Li Xinxin and Wangfei(2006) analyze movie translation from the perspective of text-type, and explore on the special translation method in audio-visual translation. Although there are some researches in movie translation, there are few studies on the humor in movie translation. Among them, Zhao Shaohua(2006) intends to analyze how Nidas theory of Functional Equivalence serves as a criterion that instructs sitcom translators to produce a better translation and provides the theoretical framework to examin the application of the translation strategies in translating the humor in English TV comedies, and he emphasizes on the translatability and untranslatability of humor. This thesis tries to analyze the humor in sitcom and its translation from the perspective of humor translation.Raskins script-based semantic theory of humor (1985) was the first linguistic-based theory of humor. Raskins theory posits that the text of a joke is always fully or partly compatible with two distinct scripts and that the two scripts are opposed to each other in a special way. The punchline triggers the switch from one script to the other by making the hearer backtrack and realizes that a different interpretation of the joke was possible from the very beginning (Attardo & Raskin, 1991: 308).In the revision of Raskins script-based semantic theory of humor, Attardo and Raskin (1991) collaborate to put forth a General Theory of Verbal Humor based on six knowledge resources, namely, script opposition, logical mechanism, situation (including the audience), target, narrative strategy, and language. The Audience-Based Theory of Verbal Humor (Carrel, 1993) posits that humor resides with the audience, and thus, nothing is inherently humorous. That explains why some joke texts will succeed on the part of one audience and fail on another. The humor event is made up of four necessary constituents: the joke teller, the joke text, the object of laughter and the audience, all of which exist within a particular situation and complement with each other in the humor event. Or put it another way, the four constituents are in co-existent relationship with each other.1.3 Framework of the ThesisThis thesis is composed of 4 parts. Chapter One gives a brief introduction, including the researche background, and literature review, as well as the framework of the whole thesis. Chapter Two presents the definition of humor, sitcom and the classification of humor in friends. Chapter Three serves as the key of this thesis. Based on the previous research findings of humor, this chapter provides the skills of humor translation through a large number of examples in Friends. Chapter Four makes a summary of the major findings of this thesis and offers some limitations and suggestions for future research.2 Humor in Friends2.1 Definition of HumorHumor is a common phenomenon in language, which plays a very important role in our life, therefore it is necessary for us to know more about it. Although humor has been studied by different scholars from different angles for thousands of years, there is still quite a lot of controversies about what humor is. In this part, the author will give two authoritative explanations of humor and introduuce the different understanding of humor betweenChinese and Western people.(1) Although humor has been studied by different scholars from different angles for thousands of years, there is still quite a lot of controversies about what humor is Attardo (1994), who defines Humor isas a technical term, covering anything that is (or may be) perceived as funny, amusing, or laughable. (Attardo,1994)(2) Humor is to disclose the ridiculousness and irrationality in life in the well-willing laughter through rhetorical devices, such as allusiveness, satire and pun, etc.(Cihai Editing Committee, 1979, P1811)Humor exists in Chinese and English language. There are similarities between them in that the main purpose of humor language is to arouse amusement and entertainment. However, there are also some differences between them. According to the above two definitions, we can easily see that in Cihai, humor is mainly defined as a special way to disclose and criticize the ridiculousness and irrationality in life and imply the authors own attitude and opinion in an implied way, which enlighten readers or viewers to have a deeper though of the society and life with thehumor, while in Longman Modern English Dictionary, humor is mainly used to produce an easy and relaxed environment for the readers or viewers. It is rarelyrelated to disclosure of the ridiculousness and irrationality.2.2 Humor and SitcomThe American sitcom came to the world in the 40s of last century, it has not only been quite popular in America, but also in many other countries in the rest of the world, undoubtedly, it has already become one of the most welcomed entertainming program throughout the whole world. As one member of it, the sitcom Friends obtained great success throughout broaducasting on NBC in recent ten years. Friends is undoubtedly one of the best sitcoms ever.A situation comedy or sitcom is a regular program on television that shows the same characters in different amusing situations(Oxford Advanced Learners English-Chinese Dictionary, sixth edition, P1636). Sitcoms usually consist of recurring characters in a format in which there are one or more humorous story lines centered around a common indoor environment, such as a family home or workplace. As a form, it has been suggested that situation comedies are popular precisely because of their reliance on certain key conventions and ingredients. To make the audience laugh is one of the most essential ingredients and the ultimate goal of situation comedies.Sitcom is a carrier of humor, which means that lots humor is generated from sitcom. As is known to all, humor is everywhere in our daily life. It needs a given condition to be explored. 2.3 Classification of Humor in FriendsAccording to Yus classification, humor is brought out not only through verbal channellanguage and discourses, but also through non-verbal channelsound information or visual information, for instance, paralanguage, gestures, etc.2.3.1 The Verbal Humor in Friends Verbal humor refers to the humor made with verbal strategies. Different kinds of verbal strategies are used to realize humorous effect. 2.3.1.1PunningPunning is widely used in situation comedy. Here is an example: (Chandler and Joey meet two beautiful girls whose radiator doesnt work.)Chandler: Oh, no, no, no, wait, waitUh, we may not know anything about radiators perse, but we do have a certain amount of expertise in the heating and coolingmileu.Joey: Uh, arent we kind of in the middle of something here?Chandler:Yes, but these women are very hot, and they need our help!And theyre very hot.(with a queer expression)(Volume 19, the First Season, Friends)“Hot” here does not only means “sweaty”. It also has an implyed meaning“beautiful”.So we can see that “hot” here is a pun and it is used to create humorous effect.2.3.1.2 Ambiguity In Friends, playing with ambiguity is also often used as a humorous strategy. First, we will see a short exchange among Ross, Chandler and Joey.(Ross will have a baby soon.)Ross: I had a dream last night where I was playing football with my kid.Chandler and Joey: Thats nice.Ross: No, no, with him.(He means holding the baby like a football)(Volume 17, the First Season, Friends)“With” in Rosss utterance “play football with my kid” could have two meanings: one is“together with” and the other is “usingas a tool” Then, we can see that the ambiguity of some words sometimes may be made use of to make humor in sitcoms.2.3.1.3 Violations of logicSometimes, the logic will intentionally be deviated to create incongruity with a final purpose of making the audience feel a pleasant surprise. Next is an example of this kind.(Chandler is talking about her secretary Nina.)Chandler: Its not just that shes cute, okay. Its just thatshes really really cute.(Volume16, the First Season, Friends)It turns out to be a violation of logic because it is not another reason at all but only a repetition of the first reason “shes cute”. This violation of logic gives the audience a pleasant surprise which ends with laughter.2.3.2 The Non-Verbal Humor in FriendsNon-verbal humor refers to the humor that made with non-verbal strategies, suchas paralanguage which includes the rate of speech,pitch variation, volume and vocalquality, etc, and visual information such as facial expression,gestures, body movements and environment language.2.3.2.1 ParalanguageGenerally speaking, paralanguage includes the rate of speech, pitch variation, volume and vocal quality, etc. The humorist usually makes proper manipulation of all these forms of paralanguage to create humor in sitcoms. Then let us see an example taken from Friends which makes use of the rate of speech to make humorous effect. (Phoebe goes to the restaurant where her sister Ursula works to find her.)Phoebe: Hey.Ursula: Oh!Phoebe: Um, you, you got a minute?Ursula: Um, yeah, Im just(hesitating in finding an answer)working.(Volume 17, the First Season, Friends)In this example, the hesitation establishes a rhythm which carries the audience along, the audiences think that Ursula is about to say Im just wondering around or Im just having a rest, so on and so forth.But after the hesita