AN ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSFER OF HUMORISTIC ELEMENTS IN THE TURKISH TRANSLATIONS OF THE DEVIL’S DICTIONARY BY AMBROSE BIERCE

The present article discusses humor translation from English into Turkish. Examining two different Turkish translations of The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce, the article sets out to analyze the methods used by translators for transferring humoristic elements of the source text into Turkish. The case studies focus on the translations by ？zge Duygu Gürkan and Arma？an Ekici. The aim is to find out and examine methods used by translators for transferring humor. Comparative examples deal especially with wordplays as well as cultural, historical, religious and literary allusions, as these are thought to be the most challenging aspects of humor translation. Analyses addressing wordplays center on issues related to polysemic words, assonances, newly coined words or unconventional uses of vocabulary. Cultural, historical, religious and literary allusions are examined with special attention to the transfer of the source text elements considered to be unknown in the target culture. It was observed that translators created new wordplays in the target language -when necessary- to replace those of the source text and that they resorted to methods such as additions, omissions and use of footnotes to translate allusions