The Challenges of Interpreting Humor

“The interview”

During interviews, in the best case scenario, the interpreter will be allowed to look through the questions in order to prepare for all possible answers given that he or she is knowledgeable and updated on the matter to be addressed. I believe this was not the case here but there was some level of coaching for both the miner and the interpreter so they would have their witticisms prepared for topics that would be coming up.

“Funky”

Although different languages do not have the exact same repertory of slang or swear words, they all have basic ways to express joy, annoyance, anger, or perplexity. In these cases, rather than looking for a literal translation of the word, one looks for the expression used to convey the same feeling. When confronted with such situations, the interpreter must be confident of possessing both the relevant cultural knowledge and quick reflexes.

A different kind of difficulty arises when a clever remark is rooted in a language itself and feeds off national and/or cultural references that will prove incomprehensible to those who do not share the same cultural space. For example, would it be possible say the term “Cantinflada” without explaining first what this icon Cantinflas represents in Latin America?

Plays on words are funny because of the combination and contrast of meaning and sound however, they are almost impossible to translate. For example, “How much can a bear bear?” Also, puns are usually untranslatable, except when there is a fortunate acoustic coincidence between languages of the same family. Usually the interpreter can do no more than explain a pun in as interesting a fashion as possible
Even if a joke is conceptually and linguistically translatable, the pace of simultaneous interpreting is unforgiving and will often force the interpreter into offering a compressed explanation of the cultural reference, leaving precious little time for the humor itself. The interpreter must be nimble and must recognize the built-in limitations without being deterred by them. Sometimes, as the video clearly demonstrates, the interpreter can have enough wit and hilarity to convey something even more humorously without compromising the integrity of the original message.

“Conference Interpreting”

In all the situations described, familiarity with the rhetorical style of a speaker is a huge help. Unfortunately, given the nature of conference interpreting (the bulk of our work at CG&A) we don’t always have that luxury, and are thrown into an event where we must interpret for a person we have just met.
If the joke happens to be hilarious, all participants have the right to join in the fun. But the interpreter, who listens directly to the speaker along with those in the audience who will laugh first, does not have the right to laugh. To be capable of communicating the cause of the laughter to the still-silent headset wearers, the interpreter must maintain concentration and hold back the flood of humor that must be redirected toward her impatient listeners. When entering the booth, we automatically go on “interpreting mode” and install an “anti-joke filter” in our heads which allows us to transmit funny comments without being compelled to even chuckle which I might say, is quite outstanding…