Migrant Bitter Wit: translating a coping mechanism in Gazmend Kapllani’s Mικρό Ημερολόγιο Συνόρων

Abstract

The understanding that humour constitutes an identity marker with a positive as well as an alienating function cuts across traditional approaches to social identity theories of humour and satire. This article melds such strands of humour by suggesting a concept that may serve as a unifying principle when identifying relevant comic excerpts, namely, the concept of migrant bitter wit. A Greek novel by Gazmend Kapllani and its English translation will be used to illustrate how the coping functions of this type of humour may be reframed in the target text, thus resulting in a shift of voice. The ventriloquising ‘migrant loser’ is presented in a more accessible, sardonic light that makes the dominant rhetorical purpose of the novel more salient.