Translation of Dysphemisms and Cacophemisms in Film Subtitling: A Humorous Perspective

Abstract

This research focuses on the use of humor in a cinematographic text, in which the use of foul language or dysphemisms and cacophemisms as humor mechanisms is becoming more and more common, as in the case of the comedy film Norbit (2007) directed by Brian Robbins and starring Eddie Murphy. The film uses crude humor, vulgar, transgressive and offensive language, which at the time of translation is complicated and presents challenges for the translator.  The objective of this research is to identify the dysphemisms and cacophemisms of the original script in order to compare them with the translation in the subtitles to see if the sense and the illocutive force is preserved, omitted or changed.  The methodology of this research is qualitative, using discourse analysis with a descriptive and comparative approach.  Key fragments of the film where dysphemisms and cacophemisms are used were selected, as well as their translation into Spanish in the subtitling of these fragments.  In addition, analysis sheets were used to compare the original and translated content in semantic and humorous terms to see what translation solutions are used for each situation where dysphemisms or cacophemisms appear. The results of this research show that the translation of dysphemisms and cacophemisms is softened by discursive mechanisms that soften the offensive effect of the original. However, it is concluded that the translator must make use of more creative and culturally adapted translation strategies to preserve the humorous effect on the target language viewers.