On the translation of Manner-of-motion in comics. Evidence from an inter- and intratypological corpus-based study

Abstract

[EN] This paper focuses on the translation of Manner-of-motion in comics, a genre in which information is conveyed in both verbal and visual language. The study draws on Slobin's Thinking-for-translating hypothesis, according to which translators tend to distance themselves from the source text in order to conform to the rhetorical style of the target language. Special attention is devoted to the role of visual language within this framework, with the ultimate aim of identifying translation techniques adapted to the issue of translating Manner-of-motion in comics, in both inter- and intratypological translation scenarios. This paper analyses a corpus that includes a selection from the Belgian comic series Les aventures de Tintin and its translation into two satellite-framed languages (English and German) and two verb-framed languages (Spanish and Catalan). Overall, the results highlight the key role of visual language in the translation of Manner-of-motion in comics, since this can compensate for alterations in the verbal code of target texts, by comparison with originals, and thus minimize the consequences of Thinking-for-translating. Moreover, the (limited) space in the balloons and the respective stylistic conventions of comic books in each language are shown to constrain translation to some extent.Work on this paper was partly carried out at the Institut fur Ubersetzen und Dolmetschen at the Universitat Heidelberg, thanks to a research grant funded by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (Programa de apoyo a la carrera academica del profesorado, 2018).Molés-Cases, T. (2020). On the translation of Manner-of-motion in comics. Evidence from an inter- and intratypological corpus-based study. Languages in Contrast. 20(1):141-165. https://doi.org/10.1075/lic.19007.molS141165201Akita, K. and Y. Matsumoto. 2012. Manner Salience Revisited: Evidence from two Japanese-English Contrastive Experiments. Unpublished manuscript.Alonso, R. A. (2017). Translating motion events into typologically distinct languages. Perspectives, 26(3), 357-376. doi:10.1080/0907676x.2017.1387578Cappelle, B. (2012). English is less rich in manner-of-motion verbs when translated from French. Across Languages and Cultures, 13(2), 173-195. doi:10.1556/acr.13.2012.2.3Cohn, N. (2014). Building a better ‘comic theory’: Shortcomings of theoretical research on comics and how to overcome them. Studies in Comics, 5(1), 57-75. doi:10.1386/stic.5.1.57_1Edwards, M. (2001). Making the implicit explicit for successful communication: pragmatic differences between English and Spanish observable in the translation of verbs of movement. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses, (14), 21. doi:10.14198/raei.2001.14.02Filipović, L. (2008). Typology in action: applying typological insights in the study of translation. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 23-40. doi:10.1111/j.1473-4192.2008.00189.x25. Motion. (2015). Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics, 527-546. doi:10.1515/9783110292022-026Forceville, C. (2011). Pictorial runes in Tintin and the Picaros. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(3), 875-890. doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.014Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I., & Filipović, L. (s. f.). Lexicalisation patterns and translation. Cognitive Linguistics and Translation. doi:10.1515/9783110302943.251Kopecka, A. (2010). Chapter 9. Motion events in Polish. New Approaches to Slavic Verbs of Motion, 225-246. doi:10.1075/slcs.115.14kopMolés-Cases, T. (2016). La traducción de los eventos de movimiento en un corpus paralelo alemán-español de literatura infantil y juvenil. doi:10.3726/978-3-653-06745-3Molina, L., & Hurtado Albir, A. (2004). Translation Techniques Revisited: A Dynamic and Functionalist Approach. Meta, 47(4), 498-512. doi:10.7202/008033arRojo, A., & Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I. (Eds.). (2013). Cognitive Linguistics and Translation. doi:10.1515/9783110302943Slobin, D. I. (1991). Learning to think for speaking. Pragmatics, 1(1), 7-25. doi:10.1075/prag.1.1.01sloSlobin, D. I. (1997). Mind, Code and Text. Essays on Language Function and Language Type, 437. doi:10.1075/z.82.24sloSlobin, D. I. (2000). Verbalized events. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory, 107. doi:10.1075/cilt.198.10sloSlobin, D. I. (s. f.). Relating Narrative Events in Translation. Perspectives on Language and Language Development, 115-129. doi:10.1007/1-4020-7911-7_10Toratani, K. (2012). The role of sound-symbolic forms in Motion event descriptions. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 10(1), 90-132. doi:10.1075/rcl.10.1.03torTversky, B., & Chow, T. (2017). Language and Culture in Visual Narratives. Cognitive Semiotics, 10(2). doi:10.1515/cogsem-2017-000