Translating English humor into Chinese subtitles: a semiotic perspective

This semiotically-oriented study examined the Chinese subtitle translations for humor in English sitcoms and highlighted the interactions between the verbal and the visual modes. Drawing on the General Theory of Verbal Humor and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this study examined three script opposition types: normal vs. abnormal, actual vs. nonactual, and possible vs. impossible; furthermore, it analyzed three logical mechanism categories: false specification or exemplification; exaggeration or false analogy; and false reasoning on time, space, cause, or condition. It focused on the Chinese subtitles for English verbally-visually expressed humor in the English sitcomModern Family(Season 5) and found that literal translation and explicitation are the two predominantly employed translation procedures to render script opposition and logical mechanism. This study further demonstrates that the two key concerns for subtitling English verbally-visually expressed humor are highlighting the incongruities embodied in script opposition and triggering the semiotic resolutions represented in logical mechanisms. These findings elucidate the relevance of visual elements for subtitling humor both among subtitle translators and researchers.