Multimodal analysis of translation strategies in Chinese-English graphic novels, Journey to the West and The Monkey King

The study investigates the strategies applied in translating the Chinese-English graphic novels, Journey to the West and The Monkey King. Graphic novels, combine linguistic and pictorial elements through typography, conveying meanings and functions simultaneously. Despite the extensive literature on translation strategies, there is limited research on how these strategies are applied in the context of Chinese-English graphic novels, particularly in balancing linguistic fidelity with visual adaptation. The study examines intercultural translation strategies in linguistic and visual elements, emphasizing linguistic fidelity, cultural adaptation, and visual adaptation. The study’s objectives are: 1. To systematically identify, categorise, and compare the translation strategies used in the Chinese-English graphic novel adaptations of Journey to the West and The Monkey King. 2. To determine the most prevalent translation strategies applied to the linguistic, typographic, and visual elements of the graphic novels, exploring their influence on reader experience. 3. To explain the impact of identified translation strategies on the linguistic, cultural, and visual representation within the graphic novels, highlighting impact on the overall narrative. 4. To identify and assess any emerging or innovative translation strategies unique to the Chinese-English graphic novel adaptations, and their implications for future translation practices. The study’s data are Journey to the West and The Monkey King. The methodology involves comparing the source text and target text to identify, classify, and quantify translation strategies. Using content analysis, linguistic, typographic, and pictorial data were categorized, while comparative analysis assessed the impact of these strategies on cultural and visual adaptation. In addition, translation-relevant anatomy of comics by Kaindl (1999), domestication and foreignisation by Venuti (1998), and localisation by Zanettin (2014) as macro-text translation strategies, and micro-text translation strategies—the six translation strategies put forward by Delabastita (1989) and the eight visual adaptation strategies proposed by Zanettin (2014)—are taken as theoretical framework. The study highlights six findings. Firstly, beyond the micro-level strategies proposed by Delabastita (1989) and Zanettin (2014), additional strategies are identified, such as transliteration, coinage, borrowing, annotation, and reinterpretation in linguistic elements, and relocating or reshaping bubbles and boxes, adding drawings, or altering in-picture narrations in pictorial elements. Secondly, predominant macro-level strategies include domestication in verbal elements and localisation in visual elements. Commonly used micro-level strategies in linguistic elements are substitutio (substitution) and adiectio (amplification), while visual adaptation strategies include retaining bubbles, resizing boxes, preserving drawings, and changing publication format. Thirdly, these strategies preserve, modify, add, delete, or reinterpret cultural elements in the Chinese version for the English adaptation. Fourthly, the study emphasizes cultural and linguistic accessibility, showing how strategies preserve or adapt cultural elements for target audiences. Fifthly, it refines novel strategies, including variations of “substitutio” (e.g., transliteration, borrowing), annotation, and reinterpretation. Lastly, it examines these strategies’ impact on narrative and visual presentation, balancing fidelity with cultural adaptation and visual effects. These findings enrich translation studies by demonstrating how graphic novel translation retains cultural elements while enhancing visual engagement, offering new insights into balancing linguistic fidelity and visual adaptation and promoting cross-cultural communication and multimodal translation.

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