An Exploration Of The English Translation Of Chinese Original Picture Books From A Multi-modal Perspective

The Chinese original picture book which abounds with Chinese elements and culture is characterized by its multimodal nature.However,the study on the Chinese original picture book has not been attached to great importance.The present article,therefore,taking the multimodal discourse analysis of the Chinese original picture book Tang Sulan’s Picture Book Series(All Eight Volumes)and A New Year’s Reunion as examples,firstly explores not only how messages of the original are conveyed in the translation but also how meanings are constructed in visual mode with the method of documentary research.Based on the visual grammar put forward by Gunther Kress and Theo Van Leeuwen,it is found that visual mode can fulfill three kinds of meaning,namely representational meaning,interactive meaning and compositional meaning.Secondly,based on the multimodal nature of the original picture book,its features and relations between the verbal text and visual mode are discussed.It is found that the original picture book owns three distinctive features,namely narrative in a multimodal approach,readability,and parent-child reading.And in the process of relating stories,three kinds of relationship exist between texts and images and they are elaboration,extension and enhancement respectively.Thirdly,this thesis,resting on the previous analysis,attempts to examine English translation strategies for the original picture book from three perspectives,namely taking both texts and pictures into consideration,making it possible for readers to enjoy themselves during reading,and showing respect for cultural difference.According to this thesis,the first aspect requires that translators should have a good ability to read pictures,which means that they need to choose proper words and combine pictures with texts while taking the context into primary account.As for the second strategy,translators should reproduce childish delight and simplicity to ensure that readers will be aesthetically entertained.Under the guidance of third strategy,translators should strive to figure out culture differences between source language and target language so that the translation caters to target audience.In conclusion,multimodality provides a feasible and insightful approach for cultural transmission and reproduction of childish delight in the field of text-picture mutual construction.