AJ19018 Translation and Humor

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2008
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Simona Javůrková (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable
Thu 11:40–13:15 G22
Prerequisites
AJ19000 Introduction to Translation && AJ09999 Qualifying Examination
Introduction to Translation
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 10 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Translating humour can be an extremely rewarding, yet at the same time an extremely difficult task, as humour is more easily recognised than analysed or reproduced. This seminar is going to examine humour as a specific category which is closely tied not only to language, but also to culture, mentality and historical context; look at different types of humour and perhaps attempt a small "cross-cultural study" on the differences between Czech and Anglo-Saxon humour. Above all, however, we will try to TRANSLATE humour and for this purpose the seminar will employ not only literary texts but also jokes, cartoons, adverts, drama, films or TV programmes.
Syllabus
  • W1 Introduction Attempts at defining humour; psychology of humour; types of humour W2 Jokes Norms and expectation in translation of humour; joke-telling in Czech/ Anglo-Saxon culture; wordplay W3 Cartoon Strips Tradition of comic strips; political humour; interaction between words and pictures W4 Jerome K. Jerome: Three Men in a Boat (situational humour) W5 Leo Rosten : The Education of Hyman Kaplan (verbal humour) W6 Oskar Wilde: Lord Arthur Sevilles Crime (black humour) W7 Dorothy Parker: Laments for the Living (tragicomedy) W8 Woody Allen: Death Knocks (drama; gallows humour) W9 The Simpsons/Friends Television series W10 Evelyn Waugh: Decline and Fall (satire) W11 David Lodge: Changing Places (university humour) W12 Betty McDonald: The Egg and I Is there something like womens voice in humour? W13 Life of Brian (parody) Film titles
Literature
  • MACDONALD, Betty. A egg and I (Orig.) : Vejce a já. info
  • BENNETT, Arnold. English humor of today. Bielefeld: Velhagen & Klasing, 43 s. info
  • WILDE, Oscar. Zločin lorda Artura Savila (Souběž.) : Lord Arthur Savile's crime. info
  • Goldstein, Jeffrey H., McGhee, Paul E. (eds): The Psychology of Humour: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Issues. Academic Press, NY and London, 1972
  • Monty Pythonův Život Briana. (Přeložil Petr Palouš) Argo, Praha 2000. ISBN: 80-7203-280-1
  • JEROME, Jerome K. Tři muži ve člunu (o psu nemluvě) ;Tři muži na toulkách. Translated by Milan Žáček. Vyd. tohoto překl. 1. Praha: Aurora, 2002, 398 s. ISBN 80-7299-050-0. info
  • WILDE, Oscar. Zločin lorda Artura Savila. Praha: Garamond, 2000, 103 s. ISBN 80-86379-11-6. info
  • ALLEN, Woody. The complete prose of Woody Allen. London: Picador, 1997, 473 s. ISBN 0-330-32821-2. info
  • ALLEN, Woody. Vyřídit si účty. Vyd. v tomto souboru 1. Praha: Argo, 1997, 92 s. ISBN 8072031317. info
  • ALLEN, Woody. Vedlejší účinky. Translated by Dana Hábová - Michael Žantovský. Vyd. v tomto souboru 1. Praha: Argo, 1996, 104 s. ISBN 8072030191. info
  • ROSTEN, Leo. Pan Kaplan má stále třídu rád. Translated by Antonín Přidal. Praha: Lidové noviny, 1995, 338 s. ISBN 80-7106-102-6. info
  • LODGE, David. Hostující profesoři. Vyd. 2. Praha: Odeon, 1989, 278 s. ISBN 8020700579. info
  • MACDONALD, Betty. Vejce a já. Vyd. 6., ve Vyšehradu 1. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1989, 293 s. ISBN 8070210028. info
  • ALLEN, Woody. Vedlejší příznaky. Praha: Odeon, 1985. info
  • JEROME, Jerome Klapka. Three Men in a Boat. V. Británie: Penguin, 1983, 184 s. ISBN 0140012133. info
  • ROSTEN, Leo Calvin and Pavel EISNER. Pan Kaplan má třídu rád. Curych: Konfrontace, 1979, 195 s. info
  • LODGE, David. Changing places :a tale of two campuses. London: Penguin Books, 1978, 250 s. ISBN 0-14-004656-9. info
  • JEROME, Jerome K. Tři muži ve člunu : o psu nemluvě. Praha: Odeon, 1975. info
  • WAUGH, Evelyn. Sestup a pád. Praha: Mladá fronta, 1971. info
  • ROSTEN, Leo. The education of Hyman Kaplan. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1965, 144 s. ISBN 0-15-627811-1. info
  • JEROME, Jerome K. Tři muži v člunu : o psu nemluvě. Praha: Práce, 1957. info
  • WAUGH, Evelyn. Decline and fall [Waugh, 1947]. Uniform ed. London: Chapman and Hall, 1947, 239 s. info
  • JEROME, Jerome K. Three men in a boat : to say nothing of the dog. Bristol: Arrowsmith, 1946, 190 s. info
  • PARKER, Dorothy. The collected stories of Dorothy Parker. New York: Modern Library, 1942, 362 s. info
  • PARKER, Dorothy. Laments for the living. Stockholm: Continental Book Company, 1930, 237 s. info
  • WILDE, Oscar. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime ; The portrait of Mr. W.H. and other stories. 18th ed. London: Methuen, 1920, 196 s. info
Assessment methods
- the focus of work during the semester is in translating and commenting of chosen passages from analysed texts as well as in a more general introduction to the "rules of the genre"; - students are also evaluated in respect to their in-class participation, which includes a spoken paper dealing with one of the more general/theoretical topics but also e. g. participation in discussion fora on the webpage of the course; credit - class attendance, translations assigned for the individual seminars, in-class participation; exam - a final translation plus a literary+translation analysis
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught each semester.
Teacher's information
http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=2293
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007.
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