TRANSLATION AND MEANING: A CULTURAL- COGNITIVE ...

Some translation theorists suggest certain criteria which should be
adopted and observed in the process of translation if the translation
equivalent of a comic strip or cartoon character is to become widely
accepted and used (which is a basic prerequisite for the acceptance of
concrete characters in general). Newmark (1988) seems to offer the most
comprehensive approach. In his discussion of the problems that arise in the
translation of names and newspaper titles, he puts forward several
conditions which any translation equivalent should fulfill. Since comic strip
and cartoon characters’ names can be understood as a special type of
‘headings and titles’ (1988: 159), i.e. names which identify a certain
“referent”, the rules he suggests could be applied to them as well:
“These (headings and titles) should be normally translated last. A non-literary text
or book should normally be factually and accurately described by its title. A
literary text may have its title changed to an appropriate connotation. Usually, the
translator has control over the title of any text. A heading of title is static and
describes a finished narration.”
The names of cartoon and comic strip characters should also be translated
last or in the end, because a name cannot be successfully translated unless
one is fully familiar with the character’s traits, typical gestures and
utterances. In order to obtain a complete roundness of such characters, the
translator should strive to reach a solution that best describes the character
in question, or at least one that includes the largest number of its qualities.
In addition to this, changing a title or name to suit the referent is a very
frequent, sometimes inevitable practice, since the most important thing
about the translation equivalent of a name is the appropriate connotation that
will be the key to introducing and understanding the character that bears it.
As far as the translator’s control over the title or name is concerned, it deals
with the increased responsibility of the translator, whose work has a highly
truth-sensitive and language-sensitive audience: if they feel that the actions
of a character and its name are not in accordance, they will not accept it.
The translation of such names, therefore, is not only a finished narration, but
a ‘narration’ from which each of the stories originate.
The rules and conditions for the successful translation of cartoon and
comic strip character names should, therefore, include criteria such as:
- proper motivation for the name;
- likeable/appealing/attractive quality, reflected both at the level of sound
(alliteration, assonance, rhyme, puns) and the level of content;
- allusiveness, which implies the existence of association and reference to
various concepts outside the name itself, but which contribute to the