Los conceptos de fidelidad y literalidad en la traducción de pasajes humorísticos

Abstract

Within the area of Translation Studies, the concepts of fidelity and literalness seem to merge into the phenomenon of literal translation. This article seeks to link the concepts of fidelity and literal translation to the translation assignment, the level of idiomaticity, and the translator�s awareness of the target cultural framework. These three elements determine the relationship between fidelity and literalness with the aim of prompting similar effects on the target reader as those caused by the source text on the source reader. Regarding the translation of humorous excerpts, in addition to analysing carefully the source text, the translator must consider the guidelines set in the translation assignment and the possibility of opting for literal translation in case of a double coincidence: the coincidence of the level of idiomaticity in the source and target languages and the coincidence of the source and target cultural frameworks.