Recreating Humor From English To Chinese: A Study On Alternative Translating Strategy Of Verbal Humor

Humor has long been considered untranslatable from one language to another. Whether some humor can be translated or not, it is an uncharted area between translatability and untranslatability. The progressive studies in this respect has been made, though.The formation of humor is quite complex, and it concerns various cultural and linguistic aspects. Without "alternative translation" or "shift" in translation, some translations of humor are impossible. Therefore, the research on "shift" in translation, as is opposed to "equivalence", is first investigated in the dissertation both abroad and at home. Catford is one of the first scholars to advocate the "equal value" in translation, and dramatically, he is also the first scholar to define shift; Popovic broadens the concept of shift; Van Leuven-Zwart adds to shift; Toury further develops the notion of shifts. In China, the difference between English and Chinese language, which determines shifts must be done in the translation E-C or C-E, has been investigated much. Scholar Huang Zhonglian is the first person in china to systemize shift theory.In the dissertation, a literature review on humor is done from five aspects whose aim is to trace back the evolution of humor, researches on it, and mechanism of it etc, abroad and at home and define the present researcher's researching domain of humor. The formation of humor from linguistic aspects(phonology, semantics, syntax and rhetoric) is listed and analyzed, too.For supporting the argumentation of the paper, a questionnaire is conducted, whose goal is to investigate the attitudes of different people toward humor and English humor of Chinese version and make out different people's reaction to the translated English humor as a proof of quite successful alternative translating strategy. There is no uniform answer as to the translatability and untranslatability of English verbal humor. The present researcher holding the "extreme" view on humor translation,sustained by "shift" theory, relevant linguistic theory, and the theory of humor both abroad and at home, offers her own presupposition and summarizes various translating strategies of English verbal humor and adds to them as well.