Translating Fawlty Towers : strategy and effect

Abstract

The article deals with the challenge and outcome of subtitling a television comedy series. Subtitling imposes many constraints on the translator. Time and space constraints require considerable amount of condensation while switching from the spoken to the written mode leads to the elimination of many features of the spoken language that are still relevant for communication. Apart from these formal constraints, the translator has to struggle with many culture-specific references, which are frequently used in humorous texts. In order to preserve the comic effect in the target text the translator makes use of various strategies. The paper analyses a selection of translation procedures, reflecting upon the challenges faced by the translator, strategy they adopt and the effect the target text may have on the target viewer.