A model for Hebrew translation of British humor

Abstract

The influence of translational norms on the translation of humor manifested in prose fiction has not been a focus of much research. This paper will try to establish the existence of an institutionalized strategy of amplification, presumably born out of a wish to bridge the cultural gap reflected in two different national traditions of literary humor. The effect of amplification, as it is implemented in the various Hebrew translations of Charles Dickens’s The Pickwick Papers and Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, is analyzed on the basis of Attardo’s General Theory of Verbal Humor (Attardo 2001, 2002). The use of amplification as a model for the translation of humor from the beginning of the 20th century, and its diminishing currency from the 1980s onwards are also discussed.

King size or all size: Proposing a typology of amplification translation technique for children picturebook translation

“…The proposed typology, as discussed beforehand, complements the discussion of amplification as studied by Asscher (2010), Ben-Ari (1992), Kaniklidou, and House (2017), López (2000), O'Sullivan (2003, and Shavit (1981). Asscher, Ben-Ari, and Shavit focus on the implementation of amplification concerning norms, López on the target readers, O'Sullivan on easy reading, and Kaniklidou and House on information addition typology.…”

“…Amplification tends to be unavoidable in children's literature translation since the translation has to convey specific norms for children. This norm issue is also discussed by Asscher (2010), implying that amplification tends to be taken into practice to ensure that the senses of humor are in line with the norms. Another norm that has to be taken into consideration is proairetic reading, in which the translation should be performed as such to make the children easily comprehend what they are reading.…”

Flirting with the Israeli Prime Minister, humorously

“…Israeli humour has developed from the tradition of Jewish humour, but presents new characteristics, more reflective of the Israelis' selfperception (Ziv, 1988). Some useful observations about the humour of the Jewish Israeli population have been made over the years, such as that it lacks understatement and selfdisparagement (Asscher, 2010); focuses on political and current affairs (Kotler-Fux, 2018); references the Holocaust (Steir-Livny, 2016); 1 and is preoccupied with gender and ethnic divides (Boxman-Shabtai & Shifman, 2015;Friedman, 2016;Hirsch, 2017;Gal, 2019).…”