On Translation of Puns in Sitcoms Based on Functional Equivalence Theory—Taking Yes, Minister as an Example

Abstract

In situation comedies, pun is one of the most effective means of creating comic effect and takes up a considerable part. However, if incorrectly or improperly translated, it can be almost impossible for puns to get across its audience, even when the audience is somewhat capable of English. The reason is that pun, in essence, is a figure of speech, which requires certain knowledge of English literature and culture. The translation of English movies and TV series has become fairly sophisticated, but studies on the translation of pun are relatively rare. This article will introduce and study pun both in Chinese and English literature by the approach of contrast, and discuss the translation methods of puns from the perspective of functional equivalence theory; and then it will take the Chinese subtitle of the famous situation comedy series Yes, Minister as examples to analyze and study the translation methods and strategies of puns used in situation comedies.