Culture-bound humour in English-language dubs: A reception study

Abstract

Non-English-language TV series currently abound on streaming platforms. Alongside new mainstream, foreign-language TV series, mainstream English dubs of feature films and series are increasingly popular (see Hayes, 2021; Sánchez-Mompeán, 2021; Spiteri Miggiani, 2021). Against this backdrop, dubbing audiovisual programmes poses challenges to translators, and (audiovisual) translation scholars such as Dore (2010, 2020), Pedersen (2011) and Ranzato (2006, 2016) have previously established that cultural elements do not always travel seamlessly across languages and cultures. This difficulty can be even greater when translating comedies, often driven by cultural dimensions such as regional stereotypes, local knowledge and national jokes (Zabalbeascoa, 1996). Inspired by reception studies on the translation of audiovisual humour (Fuentes, 2003), we hereby propose an empirical study on the perception of culture-bound humour in English-language dubs. Previous studies have already established the benefits of English-language dubs in language-learning settings (Ogea Pozo et al., 2023) and the teaching of reverse translation (Botella Tejera et al., 2024) but were conducted exclusively with undergraduate students. The present study sets out to ascertain the preferences of a non-expert viewership (N=146) and places greater emphasis on culture-bound humour in English-language dubs. This study thus builds on the lessons learnt and analyses the perception of general audiences who are exposed to short clips containing instances of culture-bound humour. Ultimately, this study showcases how experimentation can gauge audience preferences, as far as translating culture-bound humour for English dubbing is concerned, to inform current translation practices and ensure that target audience needs and preferences are taken into consideration.