The Challenges and Solutions of Translating Puns and Jokes From English to Indonesian

Abstract

<p>Translating puns and jokes is often perceived as the most<br />challenging task in translation field. The difficulties of<br />translating puns emerge because the sense of humor in the<br />puns and jokes can be disappeared after being translated into<br />the target language. This study aims to see the challenges that<br />English Education Department’s students have as well as the<br />solutions they can implement in translating puns from English<br />to Indonesian. This study applies qualitative method with<br />content analysis technique. The data were generated from the<br />translation products of puns translated by English Education<br />Department students. The data were then analyzed by using<br />reader-response technique to find out the readers’ response<br />toward the puns and jokes that have been translated into<br />Indonesian. After analyzing the data, the results indicate that<br />most students experienced difficulties to translate the puns<br />from English to Indonesia. The biggest challenge that the<br />students encountered is not only in translating the cultural<br />humor, but also in translating the linguistic humor and the<br />universal humor. Students who implement free translation<br />method and domesticating ideology were able to produce a<br />better target language oriented translation to let the readers<br />understand the humor behind the puns and the jokes they read.<br />These findings suggest that the solution to the challenge of<br />translating puns is that students should use free translation and<br />domesticating ideology in translating cultural text, such as<br />puns and jokes.</p>