RELIGIOUSNESS AND SUPERSTITIONS IN HUMOROUS SCENES. BASED ON MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (THE LINGUACULTURAL ASPECT OF TRANSLATION)

РЕЛИГИОЗНОСТЬ И СУЕВЕРИЯ В ЮМОРИСТИЧЕСКИХ СЦЕНАХ НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ ФИЛЬМА «МОЯ БОЛЬШАЯ ГРЕЧЕСКАЯ СВАДЬБА» (ЛИНГВОКУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТ ПЕРЕВОДА)

Овсепян Юрий Арменакович

студент, факультет иностранных языков и регионоведения, Московский Государственный Университет имени М.В. Ломоносова,

РФ, г. Москва

ABSTRACT

With the growing popularity of American comedy films in Russia and the CIS, it is getting more and more essential to provide high-quality movie translations. This article aims at analysing the linguacultural aspect of the translation of humour in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Западные комедийные фильмы набирают огромную популярность в России и странах СНГ, в связи с чем возрастает и потребность в высококачественных переводах этих фильмов. В этой стайте мы проанализируем лингвокультурологический аспект перевода юмора в фильме «Моя большая греческая свадьба».

Ключевые слова: АВД, комедия, лингвокульторологический аспект, Моя большая греческая свадьба.

Keywords: audiovisual translation, comedy, linguacultural aspect, My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

In this article, we will have a look at the humorous scenes that prove that Greeks are extremely religious and superstitious. Our main aim is to discern whether the translators took into account the linguacultural aspect of translation.

Таблица 1

Example 1

The translators decided to get rid of the Greek word μάτι, which means the evil eye. According to some specialists in cultural studies, Russian humour tends to be less direct and full of various subtexts [1, p. 34]. Hence, the linguacultural aspect of translating humour was not taken into consideration here. Moreover, the phrase in the translation is not as comical as in the original version, and it does not fully portray Voula’s manner of speaking–she often uses some Greek words in her English speech.

I have decided to offer my own translation of this phrase that, firstly, shows Voula’s manner of speaking, and, secondly, is as funny as in the original version. Finally, it is not as direct and explicit as the official translation; thus, the linguacultural peculiarities of Russian humour are well considered here. It is not difficult to work out the meaning of the word mati from the context.

Таблица 2

Example 2

The humour in the translation of this scene is situational, whereas, in the original version, the Greek muttering creates a comical effect as well. Many specialists in intercultural communication state that American humour is concrete and full of comments that are meant to explain some minor details [2, p.12-13]. Paradoxically, in this case, the original version is less concrete than the translation. Therefore, the linguacultural features of Russian humour were not taken into account. The translators did not take into consideration Voula’s manner of speaking-using some Greek words in her English speech.

All in all, the linguacultural aspect of translation in the humorous scenes that prove that Greeks are extremely religious and superstitious was completely neglected. However, I have offered my translations of the studied examples that correspond to the linguacultural features of Russian humour.

Reference:

1. A. A. Ivanov. Antologia satiry i yumora Rossii XX veka. Tom 46. Eksmo, 2006.
2. V. Verjinskaya. Lingvocul’turologicheskiy analiz britanskoy i amerikanskoy yumoristicheskoy fentezi (na materiale proizvedeniy T. Pratchetta i S. Tepper). ChGU, 2012.