Fostering creativity in the translation of humour. The Stable Hyper-island Procedure

Translating humour is notoriously a tricky task and requires a good deal of creativity. If seen as a problem-solving activity, creativity can be taught and developed. Bianchi (2012) sketches a problem-solving method based on a search for abstract categories emerging from the analysis of the most prominent linguistic features of the source text. The current paper develops the teaching idea in Bianchi (2012) into a problem-solving procedure and provides examples using humorous lines from an animated film. In particular, creative translation has been shown to develop over four cyclical stages: the conscious reading and analysis of the text (Preparation); an unconscious stage where ideas are reorganized (Incubation); the elaboration of possible solutions (Illumination); and conscious selection of the most adequate translation (Evaluation/Verification). Divergent thinking and fluency of thinking – i.e. the ability to produce a large number of thoughts and associations related to a given problem in a short time – are among the most prominent cognitive skills needed in this type of creative activity. The Stable Hyper-island Procedure (SHIP) – developed and illustrated in these pages through humorous lines from an animated film – subdivides the Preparation stage into four steps. Step 1 invites to a careful analysis of the source text. Step 2 suggests reorganizing the textual features into a lower number of abstract categories (hyper-islands) which will move the student’s attention away from the surface elements of the text – words and phrasing – and towards broader semantic, pragmatic and cultural issues. Step 3 guides the student to re-defining the original problem (i.e. translating the given lines of text) into a new, more-specific problem (e.g.: Create a marketing slogan to advertise a washing station for whales and which includes some kind of poetic cohesive pattern and word play). Step 4 fosters divergent thinking and fluency of thinking by brainstorming. The procedure then continues by explicitly inviting the students to produce as many alternative solutions to the newly defined problem as possible (Step 5), and by inviting them to select the solution that is most suitable in the given context (Step 6, Evaluation/Verification stage). All the steps are equally important, but the SHIP takes its name from Step 2, since the newly established abstract islands are a key element on which all the subsequent steps are taken. The hyper-islands, which favour divergent thinking and provide stable references for the Illumination and Evaluation phases, should be identified keeping in mind the pragmalinguistic and cultural context, as well as the skopos of the source text. Abstraction may take place at several levels, including semantics (passing from hyponym to hypernym), morpho-syntax (e.g.: from a given derived word to the general category of derivation), or phonetics (e.g. from a specific rhyme or assonance to the category itself, or higher, e.g. poetic device). In any case, it is a fundamental step without which it would be extremely difficult to re-define the original problem into a new one that is more precise, and at the same time open to several different solutions. Finally, in the procedure’s name, hyper-islands are defined as stable, since they represent a bridge between the source and target texts, by suggesting a new level of equivalence. As such, they mediate between free and faithful translation, two apparently incongruous elements that frequently guide external judgements of translation success.