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The past decades have witnessed some achievements, home and abroad, dedicated to cross-cultural study on humor。 Scholars in China, like Zhang Yan, Zhu Zhuyu and Jin Min have pointed out that humorous language makes people laugh and have fun, but the translation of English humor is not an easy job, for the rhetoric method in English and Chinese is different, and the relevant cultural background, national psychology, customs and habits are not the same as well。 British and American people may laugh their heads off after reading or hearing a piece of humor, but for the Chinese, it doesn’t have the same effect。 In translation, there has been a lack of humor。 As a result, the translators should adopt varies methods in translation in order to reappear the rhetorical features of the original context。

Many experts had in-depth researches in the absence of humor in translation from the perspective of translatability and untranslatability。 They have achieved agreements on promoting the spread of humor。 This article will analyze the reasons for the loss of humor based on the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, to make people of different cultural backgrounds understand other countries’ humor。

2。1 A brief review on humor translation

Humor is a transliteration of the English word ‘Hum-our-’, which is derived from the Latin word ‘humorr’。 Its original meaning was ‘bodily fluid’。 There was an ancient Greek physician named Hippocrates, who believed that the balance of fluids in human bodies is controlling human health and emotions。 However, the widespread use of the term ‘humor’ has to be attributed to the British Humanist dramatist Ben Jonson for his work ‘Every Man in His Humour’。 Probably due to the social function of literature and art, Jonson’s theory about humor spread like wildfire。 And the first one to introduce this word into China will have to be Lin Yutang。

The Chinese writer (also translator) Lin Yutang was the first one to translate “humor” into the Chinese word “幽默”。 At that time, many cultural celebrities raised objection。 Lu Xun once believed that this kind of translation was wrong, because it would be misinterpreted as the meaning of “silent” or “quiet”。 Another linguist Chen Wangdao once interpreted it into “slippery”, but then he found that it’s not precise and has frivolous meaning。 In the end, Lin Yutang’s translation method has finally been recognized by the world, and has been in use till now。

The word “humor” is totally different from “irony”。 Irony is a metaphor, using an exaggerate way to reveal and criticize bad or stupid behaviors。 Lenin said: “Humor is a beautiful, healthy quality。” For this reason, it was seen as a manifestation of a mature man。 Our lives today is full of sunshine and laughter, but apart from our working time, we should also allow humor to act as a spiritual “ massagist”。

Humor is a manifestation of beauty, a flash of wisdom。 It’s adopted by special needs of interpersonal communication。 Some unspeakable difficulties or obscure affairs are often implied in few words by means of flexible expressions of languages, containing its witty and sharpness。

It’s not exaggerated to say that humor is a kind of philosophy with a unique form of comedy。 It combines complex factors of beauty with the ugliness in forms of directness and wit。 Laughter triggered by humor is often involved with a slight irony。 The humor doesn’t use a well-known way to present the content, but to express it in a tortuous and veiled way, which makes people laugh as soon as they come to comprehend the meaning。 Such amusing techniques cause the presence of humor。 The formation of humor not only comes from languages but also from other approaches。 For instance, the silent film of Chaplin, it has the same sense of humor and can amuse the audiences as well。文献综述