| Yellow Emperor’s Medicine Classic(Huang Di Nei Jing)serves as the foundation and origin of the theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM).The accurate comprehension and faithful transmission of this seminal text in a reader-friendly manner has been invaluable in the international dissemination of TCM.This research summarizes the international reception of English translations of Huang Di Nei Jing(28 in total)since the 1920 s.In particular,The Yellow Emperor’s Medicine Classic: A Treatise on Health and Long Life(translated into English by Wang Xuewen and Sui Yun,illustrated by Han Yazhou and Zhou Chuncai)has widespread influence on international library collections and foreign readers’ reviews.The comic translation,spotlighting the discourse on the regimen in the source text,is characterized by the multi-panel comics that depict the knowledge and culture vividly and efficaciously.Based on linguistic theories,domestic translation studies on TCM classics have been standardized since the 1980 s.Huang Di Nei Jing has been regarded as an essential subject in this realm for a long time.Amid the growing interest in multimodal factors in discourse analysis and translation studies,domestic scholars remain fixated on the monomodality(language)in major translations of Huang Di Nei Jing.The scarcity of discussions on the role of multimodal factors in texts calls for further exploration.This thesis employs a case study to investigate the comic translation.Specifically,a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is utilized to explore the research questions:(1)How the verbal and visual modalities of the translation convey the ideational function of the source text.(2)How the verbal and visual translations maintain coherence between the two modalities to convey meaning effectively.(3)What the cohesive devices function on spreading TCM culture.This thesis employs Halliday’s ideational metafunction of language,primarily the transitivity system,Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen’s visual grammar and Yu Liu and Kay O’Halloran’s intersemiotic texture to develop an analytical framework suitable for the multimodal translations of Chinese medical classics.The framework is carried out in three stages: text information,image information and image-text cohesion.The research findings demonstrate that(1)the source texts and the English translations employ both verbal and visual modalities to communicate concepts.The verbal modality conveys concepts through material,relational,and verbal processes,accompanied by relevant circumstantial components.Meanwhile,the visual modality is presented through 821 illustrations in which narrative,conceptual,analytical,and symbolic structures are adopted to convey the original meaning.(2)Regarding intersemiotic cohesion,the two modalities are interconnected through various means of experiential meaning,including 786 intersemiotic parallel structures,775 intersemiotic correspondence,203 intersemiotic sense relationships,and 15 intersemiotic polysemy.It also utilizes devices in the logical meaning,such as intersemiotic 635 comparative relations,467 additional relations,and 341 consequential relations.(3)The verbal and visual components are stressed by employing devices that facilitate an intrinsic interrelation between the two modalities within the ideational metafunction.Such devices alleviate the cognitive burden on readers and enhance the conveyance of TCM culture and its validity.Moreover,it mirrors the translator’s adherence to the principle of equivalence in translation.Focused on the comic version of Huang Di Nei Jing,this research explores the intricacies of multimodal translation and composition in multimodal discourse analysis.Its objective is not only to expand the scope of translation studies concerning the classic in this thesis and other TCM texts but also to make some contribution to the “Going-out”of TCM culture for achieving “Going-into” the globe. |
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