The translation of Jokes and cultural references in The Mask (1994)

Abstract

[eng] The increasing demand of digital platforms has given rise to a new boost to the field of translation. In particular, audiovisual translation, which encompasses the translation of all the audiovisual content around the world. The importance of the American film industry leads to translators having to adapt these materials into multiple languages. This project focuses on the Skopos and Dynamic Equivalence theories, the acceptability norm and the adaptation strategy — from the field of Translation Studies — that have been used in the translation into Spanish from the movie The Mask (1994) by Chuck Russell. The analysis carried out showcases how effective have been the adaptations of jokes and cultural references from English to Spanish, dealing with the aspects faced when translating humour. This paper seeks to understand how effective the Spanish translation of a comedy film has been, which relies on wordplays, puns, jokes and cultural references throughout the film in order to make the audience laugh. The analysis has been carried out by looking at the subtitles of the original version and afterwards to the translated version on the digital platform HBO Max. The analysis concludes with an overview of the findings of each chosen example analysed and proposes a reflection on which theory, norm and strategy is more appropriate when translating humour.