The Comic Voice in Translation

This paper deals with the interplay between culture and humorous style by examining Gavin Richards's translation/adaptation of Dario Fo's play Morte accidentale di un anarchico (Accidental Death of an Anarchist). The analysis compares the original and the translation, focusing in particular on the text's oral humour as it comes across in the main character's way of speaking. The main character is the Madman (or ‘Maniac’ in Richards's version), whose wild comic expression, with its roots in the Italian theatrical and comic traditions, is crucial to conveying Fo's political and social message. It is demonstrated that the changes Richards makes to the Madman's discourse style result in a change in the character of the Madman and in the play's brand of humour and its message

Accidental · Aesthetics · Art · Comics · Linguistics · Literature · Physics · Politics · Sociology · Computer Science · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Translation Studies and Practices

• Taboo or not taboo

  Brigid Maher•The Italianist•2012

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• Dario Fo and Franca Rame

  Open Access•David Hirst•Dario Fo and Franca Rame•1989

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• The Translator's Invisibility

  Lawrence Venuti•Translator's Invisibility•2003

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• The Translator As Communicator

  Basil Hatim, Ian Mason•Translator As Communicator•2005

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