Translated Jokes

L. Schulte shlt at sfs.utoledo.edu
Tue Jan 22 18:34:19 CET 2002


Concerning translations of jokes, in this case from Barks' English to 
German, I had written earlier:
 > A cowboy asks Donald at the same time for a
 > donation to a party for "cowboys who can't yodel". In German
 > the cowboy asks for a donation for the "Small Animal Breeders
 > Society" (Kleintierzüchterverein), a word that I assume seems
 > fairly ridiculous in German, but is not on the same level as
 > "cowboys who can't yodel" (Cowboys, die nicht jodeln können).

Harry responded:
"I think your point was that the German texts were *better* ("more
literary"). Is that is so, I don't understand this example. The
Kleintierzüchterverein does not sound funny to me (I do know some German),
while the non-yodeling cowboys are hilarious."

To Harry:
No, my point was that the German translation is not as funny as Barks' 
original.  You are quite right!  And the "literary" nature of the German 
translation is not necessarily "better", as this example shows!
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