An Empirical Approach to the Reception of AV Translated Humour

Abstract The successful reception of audiovisual productions depends heavily on the quality of the translation of the audiovisual text. Audiovisual translation has been dealt with in depth by a number of studies in the last few years. However, most studies seem to ignore the key question of reception. This paper aims to address this gap in the literature by analyzing some questions relating to the level of reception of AV translated humour in English. The emphasis is on empirical testing, through an experiment designed to examine the degree of positive transfer of AV translated humour. To this end, a case study of one of the best well-known Marx Brothers’ films, Duck Soup, is presented.