Translating satire inMafaldaandA Turma da Mônica

Abstract

In both the Spanish-language Argentine comic strip Mafalda, created by Quino, and the Portuguese-language Brazilian comic A Turma da Mônica by Maurício de Sousa, the creators’ use of political and cultural satire unveils critical global and national issues through the eyes of young female protagonists. Character naming and effective translation of these comic strips requires an expanded view of satire as a principally literary genre by examining its linguistic and cultural purposes. Thus, this study explores the cultural and linguistic significance of satire in translation along with its associated challenges, drawing on specific examples from these two comic strips to illustrate these issues.