On untranslatability of english linguistic humor

Abstract

Linguistic humor has long been considered untranslatable because of the fact that its linguistic features can never be duplicated in another language. The thesis views this long-debated issue with the Skopos theory and Translation Variation Theory and arrives at the conclusion that what has been hindering the humor translation includes not only the outward form-linguistic features of humor, but also something in ideological aspect- the conventional idea about the nature of translation and translation criteria. © 2011 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.