Saggi/Essays 314 Issue 21 – Spring/Summer 2023 Iperstoria Salvatore M. Ciancitto Translating Humorous Literature Translation Strategies in Come vivere in un appartamento by K. R. G. Browne and H. W. Robinson Abstract How to Live in a Flat is a book written in 1936 by Kenneth R. G. Browne and illustrated by Heath W. Robinson, a well-known artist of the age, famous for having illustrated Hans Christian Andersen’s books but also for his sketches and drawings of fabulous machines and gadgets invented to solve everyday little problems in a cumbersome and improbable manner. This book is the first of a series produced by the two artists; each volume of the series has the form of a handbook full of suggestions and advice for specific hobbies (How to Make a Garden Grow, 1938) or to deal with the problems related to marriage and married life (How to be a Perfect Husband, 1937). Translating these texts tackles three types of difficulties and constraints: first, their chronological and cultural distance (England between the two World Wars); secondly, the humorous and ironical style used by Browne, as a writer, and by Robinson, as an illustrator; finally, the presence of illustrations which depict episodes of the narrative, thus creating a sort of dialogue between the written and the pictorial texts. This study stems from my translation into Italian of the first book of the series, How to Live in a Flat, and intends to discuss the translation choices I made in order to recreate the equivalent humorous effect in the target text and on the target audience, which are both culturally and chronologically distant from the source text. Keywords: English linguistics, translation studies, translating humour, W.H. Robinson, English literature 1. Introduction ow to Live in a Flat is a text written by Kenneth R. G. Browne (1895-1940) and illustrated by Heath W. Robinson (1872-1936), renowned English cartoonist, illustrator and artist, famous for his drawings in some editions of Shakespeare’s works and Andersen’s fables and for his whimsical machines invented to achieve simple tasks. The two worked together for several years and produced a series of four humorous volumes focusing on daily life of the 1930s. Each book in the series has a title that begins with “How to ...” (How to Live in a Flat, 1936; How to be a Perfect Husband, 1937; How to Make a Garden Grow, 1938; How to be a Motorist, 1939) and H