Yakin, Orhun (1999) Translation of humour with special reference to the cartoons in 'Leman' and other popular weekly humour magazines of Turkey. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In this dissertation, the various strategies of humour translation have
been analysed by taking various cartoons with speech bubbles from the popular
Turkish humour weekly magazine Leman and other similar publications.
Generally considered as an extremely problematic, sometimes next to impossible,
task within the translation studies, humour translation requires and deserves
special attention since, as it was explained in the related sections, it may unite or
separate people within the context of one single joke. As we also have stated elsewhere
in the text, the description of both humour and translation, as two
separate concepts, are not available in certain and decisive terms. This is
especially true for the concept of humour which also covers the areas of laughter,
jokes, wit, satire, irony and many others which are all interchangeable with each
other. This fact makes an all-round definition very difficult. We also tried to
show that, the visual humour or the visual aspect of humour could be a valuable
asset for a foreign recipient who genuinely wishing to understand humour
products from a different and remote culture. We wanted to show, and to some
extent share, that the cartoons, provided they are not strictly political or crammed
with regional issues and accents, could be fathomed by an outsider with the help
of a decent translation and an adequate amount of contextual and cultural
background information. We have assumed, from the very beginning of this
project, that the contemporary Turkish humour, particularly cartoons that are
represented in Leman and other similar publications, was interesting enough to
become a dissertation subject, particularly those with stock types or characters
since they have the potential of becoming snapshots of a country which is still considered as alien (or other) by the West. As far as this writer concerned, the
main points of interest concerning Turkey by the British public could roughly be
summarised in two points: a bargain trip to the seaside during the summer season
and some occasional football matches Manchester United plays against Turkish
teams in Istanbul. Especially the latter always attracts heavy press coverage
during and after a match. We wanted to show that there are other cultural aspects
exist in Turkey as well and such aspects could be transferred to other cultures by
ways of translation. The material we have chosen is both visual and prose at the
same time and although they function as a unity, they also complement each other.
It is proposed that, although a perfect translation is always a desirable concept in
almost every field, the translation of humour is possible within certain
frameworks. The visual side of cartoons, as in situation comedies, contributes
immensely to the comprehension of the message, which should be considered as
the most important feature of the joke. To this end, a variety of cartoons are
selected from both Lenicyn and other similar humour weeklies and translated with
an adequate amount of background and contextual information that provided
beforehand. This background information also includes, as far as the material in
question permits, a close analysis of the language and the subject matter. To
provide a better insight for the reader, a summary of Turkish humour and humour
magazines are added alongside a section on the issue of humour itself.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration P Language and Literature > PL Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Léman -- Translations -- History and criticism, Turkish wit and humor -- Translations -- History and criticism, Caricatures and cartoons -- Translations -- History and criticism
Official Date:	December 1999
Dates:	Date Event December 1999 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Translation and Comparative Cultural Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	vii, 205 leaves
Language:	eng

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