Multimodality In Picture Books Translation ——A Case Study Of Beijing:A Symmetrical City

With the development of technology and multimedia,multiple modalities have become an increasingly important way to convey meanings.Research on the multimodal approaches to translation is an emerging field,where the translation of picture books is one of the hot topics.How picture books express meanings and how their multimodal features affect translation decisions are significant research questions worthy of in-depth investigation,and they are especially significant when children’s education is developing rapidly.This thesis takes the picture book Beijing:A Symmetrical City as an example to study the translation of picture books from a multimodal perspective.Beijing:A Symmetrical City,originally a Chinese picture book,introduces Beijing’s unique city layout,architectural style,and its cultural customs.The verbal signs in the original text are concise,with visual signs used as the main way to deliver meaning.The translated text is distinctive in the English version of this picture book,in that the verbal content is significantly increased,and the layout differs from the original one where the Chinese text is at the bottom of each page.The translator not only retains the translated text,but also supplements with background knowledge and a small map.The combination of images and textual translations and their interplay facilitate an understanding of traditional Chinese culture and increase the interest for the reader.Visual grammar,image narrative,and multimodal discourse analysis are used as the theoretical frameworks of this thesis.The multimodal characteristics of Beijing:A Symmetrical City are explored with the help of a qualitative method and a case study analysis.First,the thesis examines the differences between the source text and the target text via a multimodal analysis of the paratexts such as the cover,the title,and the main components of the pictures.Second,the translator’s methods in the translation process of multimodal picture books is explained with the use of examples,in order to analyze how the multimodal attributes of the translation project and cross-cultural communicative intentions affect the translation choices.Finally,the effects of translation are discussed from the perspective of the image-text relationship.Throughout the discussion,the cover,the title,and the preface of the picture book are studied from a visual grammar theory perspective.Accordingly,the Chinese cover focuses more on conceptual representations of traditional Chinese culture,while the target text minimizes some elements of traditional Chinese culture to reduce the unfamiliarity caused by cultural differences in order to attract readers.As for the main part of the picture book,the source text and the translated text differ in terms of the messages conveyed at the cultural,contextual,content,and expression levels.Images are the main mode of expression in the source text,but in contrast the target text tries to reduce the reading difficulties caused by cultural differences through verbal and visual explanations,and verbal symbols play a significant role in conveying the meaning.Meanwhile,the translator considers the interaction of different modes during translation,and the translation methods are influenced by cultural differences,the target readership,and the publisher’s focus on increasing sales.The translator facilitates readers’ comprehension of the original text and images by providing background information and descriptions of the images,or by omitting specific cultural terms.This study advances the study of multimodal approaches to translation,provides information about translation practices in this context,and offers new ideas for cultural communication abroad.In the context of China’s "going global" strategy,multimodal texts such as picture books can be used to interpret Chinese culture in a new way and broaden the path of cultural communication.