Techniques of Subtitling Jokes from English into Arabic

Abstract

Translating jokes from English into Arabic is a challenging task since jokes are strongly related to their languages and cultures. The task is becoming more challenging due to the subtitling rules, conventions, and constraints. The present study endeavours to investigate the translating techniques used by different Arabic subtitlers in different films to solve the technical, linguistic, and cultural problems of subtitling jokes in different American films. To achieve this pursuit we adopt Baker’s (2011) techniques for translating idioms and adapt them to meet the requirement of the subtitling of jokes’ punchlines, using a qualitative research method. The study reveals that subtitlers always translate the setting of the joke literally except for joke 4. The subtitlers use different translation techniques to render the punchlines; however, some of them fail to trigger a laugh.  Unlike universal jokes, linguistic and cultural jokes are difficult to render. Besides, the subtitlers omit (the entire or part) of the joke which is inappropriate and unacceptable in the host culture.