CROSSCULTURAL COMMUNICATION FOCUS HUMOR INTERPRETING Cecilia He Contents

CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION FOCUS: HUMOR INTERPRETING Cecilia He

Contents • • Difficulties of humor interpreting What makes a good interpreter of humor? Warm-up Give it a go!

Difficulties of humor interpreting A. Cultural references • • traditions-泼水节，Feast of the sacrifice religions-佛教, Christianity history-三国鼎立，the War of Roses literature-红楼梦，Emma food-回锅肉，lava chocolat arts-齐白石，Van Gogh language-一石二鸟，one stone, two birds lifestyle-天道酬勤，laid-back

Difficulties of humor interpreting B. Wordplay (e. g. puns) -- I would like a book, please. -- Something light? -- It doesn’t matter. I have my car with me. -- Is this my train? -- No, sir. It belongs to our company. -- Don’t be silly. Can I take this train to Toronto? -- No, sir. It’s much too heavy.

What makes a good interpreter of humor? a. b. c. d. Be humorous; No word for word interpretation; Resist the temptation of pursuing perfect fidelity, but try to find a joke that rings some of the same bells as the original; Avoid over-explanation of Culture-bound humor.

Warm-up 1) War does not determine who is right – only who is left. 2) The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on the list. 3) The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Give it a go! A funny speech of Joe Wong, who is called a Chinese man with American humor, at the Radio and TV Correspondents' Dinner.

THANK YOU!!!