Huy Vu

Professor Johnson

Writing 2

May 22 2017

The Art of Genre Translations

Every genre is much more complex than meets the eye. At a closer look, this becomes

apparent; genres are suffused of literary practices and conventions unique to that genre.

Therefore, translation of genre to genre can become quite tricky fast. Transforming one genre to

another requires not only sufficient knowledge of the conventions of both genres but also the

efficacy of those conventions. The translator must choose to retain the most identifiable aspects

of the genre being translated while omitting others to make room for the conventions of the new,

intended genre. In this paper, the translation of a classic slapstick cartoon, Tom and Jerry, into a

peace treaty between the two, will be considered. To accomplish the genre translation, the

following aspects had to be addressed: change in audience from children to Tom and Jerry,

transition from moving pictures and a soundtrack to a written legally binding document,

modification of purpose from strictly entertainment to negotiation of peace, and retention of

identifiable qualities such as memorable characters, among other things.

To begin a genre translation, identification and then adaptation of both purpose and

audience must be addressed. Both facets are dissimilar in unrelated genres. The audience and

purpose of a peace treaty is inherently different from that of a cartoon show. Switching between

audiences is no easy feat, as each audience has its own specific nuances that must be played to.

Drawn as a colorful cartoon with cute, animated animal characters, the show was meant to
entertain an audience of kids. Hanna and Barbera, the producers of the show, use slapstick

comedy as their main form of entertainment. Constantly at one anothers throat, the rivals, Tom

and Jerry, bash and pummel each other every moment they can. The outrageousness of such

extraordinary skirmishes between the characters is supposed to provoke laughter in the audience.

However, when the same actions of violence are mentioned in a peace treaty its purpose is not to

entertain, rather it becomes a guideline of things not to do. These differences in intention are

what one must keep in mind when translating genres. One writer discusses the importance of this

in her essay on reflective writing. Intentionsa sense of audience and purpose and of what the

writer wants the essay to doare essential to a good piece of communicative writing (Giles

198). Giles understood how essential a clear sense of intent helps portray the message. Since the

intentions of each genre are distinct, they must be changed to be effective. Originally, the show

had an audience of children with the purpose of entertaining, and in the peace treaty, the

audience became Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse with the purpose of ending their rivalry.

Realistically, however, the peace treaty will be read by a secondary audience, people familiar

with the show. So, there must also be elements of the cartoon that would connect to the

secondary audience in the peace treaty.

Conscientious retention of recognizable elements of Tom and Jerry was crucial to the

creation of the peace treaty. Without the mention of the known characters, such as Jerry, Spike,

and Tom, the treaty could have been between any two individuals and would not have been the

Tom and Jerry peace treaty. Without the mention of the wild shenanigans that occur between the

two rivals, the comedic style of the show would have been lost. In other words, these distinct

elements were quintessential to the Tom and Jerry peace treaty; these are elements that the

secondary audience would recognize and that would resonate with them. Since the peace treaty
was not of utmost importance, the length was succinct and finite. There was not room for every

little detail depicted in the show. Omission of extraneous details of the show, like the soundtrack

and background imagery, makes space for the features of peace treaties. These features include

structural ones like organization of paragraphs into articles as well as features that tackle conflict

resolution. Since there was no other way of rendering the message of a peace treaty, the original

genre of an animated cartoon with very little dialogue had to be put into words.

To complete the translation of genres, the transition of animated drawings into legal

phraseology was made. Cartoons and peace treaties are worlds apart when it comes to their

conventions. Cartoons relay their message through means of visual and audio stimulus, through

vibrant animations and a whacky soundtrack. Peace treaties tend to be dense, archaic, and

somber pieces of text that do nothing more than what they are supposed to, which is solidifying

peace between two warring groups through diplomatic means with the use of legal parlance.

Because of my personal lack of experience with peace treaties, writing one came with its

difficulties. I had to read through a couple of treaties like the Treaty of Peace with Japan and the

Treaty of Westphalia to get a general grasp of the conventions and type of jargon to be used. To

translate between genres effectively, the translator must have adequate knowledge of the genre,

and this is mentioned as well in Dirks piece, Navigating Genres. In the piece, he writes, In

other words, knowing what a genre is used for can help people to accomplish goals (Dirk

253). Choosing the correct genre is like choosing the right tool for a job, a screwdriver would be

chosen for a job that requires driving in a screw but not for turning a nut. It is important not only

to choose a genre fit for the job, but also to understand how it must be used, the conventions of

it. This requires familiarizing oneself with the literacy practices of a genre, which can be done by

reading a few example texts. Genre translation can be complicated, but it is not impossible.
 Genre translation is meant to be a form of literary practice that deepens the understanding

of genre conventions. It allows the writer to reflect on the conventions of both genres and then

discriminate between them. The writer must choose the most effective conventions to retain

while omitting the irrelevant. Strengthening the knowledge of genre only helps writers become

more effective at communicating their intended message and in general, become better thinkers.
 Works Cited

Avalon Project Treaty of Westphalia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.

<http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/westphal.asp>.

Barbera, Joseph and William Hanna, creators. Tom and Jerry. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios,

1940.

Dirk, Kerry. "Navigating genres." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing 1 (2010): 249.

Giles, Sandra L. "Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You

Thinking?." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing 1 (2010): 191.

United Nations. Treaty of Peace with Japan. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2017.

<https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20136/volume-136-I-1832-

English.pdf>.