The possibility of creating new relations: literary translation as an associative exchange

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to refl ect upon the inter-textual character of humorous discourse as developed in Stephen Leacock’s novel Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), whose translation into Brazilian Portuguese integrates my PhD project. Aware that I am grappling with a comic piece, I try not to focus on the surface of the words, as to ultimately privilege the effect of laughter. In this sense, and even though the structure whereby humour is discursively constructed is, of course, crucial, the material enveloped within such structure should also be put in the spotlight. This is why, for this article, my attention is drawn to the references set forth by the narrator to enhance the impression of incongruity and exaggeration, which is a common mechanism of humorous discourse. More specifi cally, I guide my discussion on the narrative incongruous and exaggerated artefacts by analysing and recreating its hyper-textual nature.