Anisomorphic Humour or Humorous Anisomorphism? A Case of Wordplay in Polish Translations of Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”

Abstract

The prevalence of jocular elements in Shakespeare’s oeuvre does not cease to evoke linguists’ interest. Much as humorousness is viewed universal and ubiquitous, translation technicalities related thereto still seem to pose a challenge for translators. The notion of anisomorphism – inextricably related to rendition and perceived as one of the key constraints affecting translation of wordplay – gathered little attention both at the linguistic and pragmatic level. Therefore, the paper seeks to arrive at a succinct yet comprehensive account of anisomorphic instances. Alongside, the rationale behind the application of particular translation strategies did not go unrecognized. The discussion is predicated upon examples extracted from Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost”.