Subtitling of script-based humor in Friends into Norwegian

Abstract

Med Victor Raskins (1985) humorteori som fokuserer på script og incongruity, har jeg demonstrert hvordan scriptbasert humor er fremstilt i TV-serien Friends, samt sett på oversettelsen til norsk. I analysen har jeg brukt fem eksempler på scriptbasert humor og at vitsene var scriptbasert var et grunnlag for analysen. Fra Schjoldagers (2008) definisjoner av makro- og mikrostrategier, har jeg undersøkt hvilke valg som ble gjort av oversetteren fra kildetekst til måltekst. Videre har jeg demonstrert hvordan oversettelse kan være utfordrende for oversetteren. I tillegg finnes det humorelement som er vanskeligere enn andre å oversette.

Using Victor Raskin's (1985) humor theory with the notions of script and incongruity as a foundation in this empirical translation study, I have demonstrated how script-based humor is portrayed in the TV series Friends and looked at the subtitling to Norwegian. In the analysis I have used five examples of script-based humor in the TV series Friends. The jokes used were script-based which was a requirement for the analysis. From using Schjoldager's (2008) definitions of micro strategies in the analysis, I have investigated the choices made by the subtitler when translating the series from source text to target text. Further I have demonstrated how translation offers a set of challenges for the translator. In addition, there are humor elements that are more difficult than others to translate, in rendering its full meaning from the ST to the TT.