Verbal, visual, and verbal-visual puns in translation: cognitive multimodal analysis

Abstract

This paper presents results of cognitive multimodal analysis of English to Ukrainian and English to Russian translations of verbal, visual and verbal-visual puns found in the American animated tragicomedy sitcom “BoJack Horseman”. We have found that translation of verbal puns presupposes overcoming constraints caused by linguacultural specificity of the pun-producing source-text linguistic expressions (idioms and/or allusions). Translation of visual puns entails constructing an illuminating verbal context, which facilitates interpretation of the images. Translation of verbal-visual puns, both those in which the incongruous conceptual structures are cued verbally, and the image dubs the text, and those in which one of the incongruent structures is cued verbally and the other is triggered visually, demands reconciling the image with the text on top of coping with linguacultural specificity. We have revealed that to render the analyzed puns the translators resort to three basic translation procedures: retention, reduction, and replacement. Literal translation resulting in retention of a pun leads to foreignization of the target text unless the recipients can be expected to infer the pun due to the impact of cultural globalization. In all analyzed cases, translators failed to retain pun meanings cued by the image. Reduction and replacement result in complete (causing a loss of a pun) compulsory (imposed by linguacultural constraints) domestication. Reduction instantiates as choosing a target-language expression that cues only one of the two incongruent conceptual structures engaged in a pun and replacement presupposes using a target-language expression that compensates for the loss of a pun by creating a different humorous stimulus. In a multimodal/multimedial context, a target-text verbal expression can be replaced by a verbal-visual one.

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“…Thus, multimodality examines how people construct meaning using various kinds of modes (Rowsell & Walsh, 2011). Various aspects of multimodality have been examined by many scholars, including Ukrainian linguists (Morozova, 2017;Davydenko & Shevchenko, 2018;Kovalenko & Martynyuk, 2021;, from a variety of theoretical perspectives Forceville, 2009;Kress, 2010;Jewitt et al, 2016). On this basis, there has been an increasing interest in multimodal learning strategies based on using multiple modes and their potential to improve student learning and motivation.…”

Presenting grammar through Internet memes in teaching English for specific purposes

“…Thus, multimodality examines how people construct meaning using various kinds of modes (Rowsell & Walsh, 2011). Various aspects of multimodality have been examined by many scholars, including Ukrainian linguists (Morozova, 2017;Davydenko & Shevchenko, 2018;Kovalenko & Martynyuk, 2021;Krysanova, 2022), from a variety of theoretical perspectives (Kress &Van Leeuwen, 2001;Forceville, 2009;Kress, 2010;Jewitt et al, 2016). On this basis, there has been an increasing interest in multimodal learning strategies based on using multiple modes and their potential to improve student learning and motivation.…”

Jezično-vizualna igra riječi u memetičkom ratovanju protiv ruske agresije u Ukrajini

“…This study is limited to verbo-visual pun, which is a little researched phenomenon across disciplines. Empirical research on verbovisual puns has been narrowed to the study of their processing (Zenner and Geeraerts 2018) and translatability (Lazreg 2021;Kovalenko and Martynyuk 2021). However, investigation into verbo-visual pun in the polycode space of Internet memes for different purposes of crisis information and management as well as a counter propaganda strategy has received little attention.…”