The Translation Of Verbally Expressed Humor Guided By Skopos Theory ——A Case Study Of Andrea Levy’s Novel The Long Song

Humor is a special linguistic form and language art unique to human beings.However,as we witness the increasingly frequent inter-cultural exchange and communication in today’s world,the spread of humor faces both linguistic and cultural barriers.Even for translators who are familiar with different languages and cultures,humor translation still proves to be tricky and treacherous.In the previous translation studies,humor translation has been a daunting challenge and many scholars believe that the formation mechanism of humor is too special to exist independently of the linguistic and cultural environment in which it is embedded.Until now,the academics are still debating whether humor is translatable or not.Among many translation theories that can be applied to humor translation,the German Functionalism has taken a different approach.It holds the view that translation is a purposeful activity.Therefore,the purpose of the text should be regarded as the determining rule of the translation process with the emphasis on fulfilling the function of the source text and adopting applicable translation strategies accordingly.The German Functionalism is represented by Hans J.Vermeer’s Skopos Theory,which emphasizes the skopos（Greek word for goal）of the text as the prime principle determining the whole translation process.Hence,translators are granted more freedom instead of focusing on reaching equivalence with the source text and adopt applicable translation strategies in order to fulfill the purpose of the source text.In this report,the author adopts Vermeer’s Skopos Theory as the theoretical framework and selects Caribbean-British novelist Andrea Levy’s work The Long Song,winner of the 2011 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction,as the material for translation practice.As the main subject of this research,verbally expressed humor（VEH）in this novel is further divided into three categories:universal humor,linguistic humor,and cultural humor.Among the three types of VEH,universal humor is the easiest to understand and is generally treated with the strategy of literal translation.On the other hand,linguistic humor and cultural humor in this novel,which incorporates elements of Creole,Caribbean culture,and Christian classics,etc.are more difficult to understand and are often used with multiple textual purposes.Therefore,when translating these two types of humor,it is important to not only overcome the linguistic and cultural obstacles to achieve their main textual purpose—to convey humor,but also to take into consideration other purposes,such as conveying information and building characters.In this report,the author finds out that a combination of domestication and compensation strategies has been proved to be more feasible in coping with these two types of VEH in most cases.In a word,when dealing with verbally expressed humor that contains various cultural and linguistic elements,the priority is to analyze the purposes of the text and choose appropriate translation strategies on the basis of the structure of the VEH and the readers’level of understanding.