The Picturebook: an Eye-opener for Translators.Looking into the Interlingual Interplay of the Verbal and the Visual
Date
2006-10-26T09:03:50Z
Authors
Rankin, Karen Philippa
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Abstract
The aim of this paper is to explore the various translation problems that may arise from the
verbal-visual relationships characteristic of picturebooks. Based on the inherent interaction
of two semiotic systems, namely the verbal and the visual, picturebooks must be read,
interpreted and translated as a ‘whole’. Translators must thus pay equal attention to the
words and pictures as well as to other visual elements that contribute to the overall effect
of picturebooks.
The case study involves an analysis of two picturebooks written and illustrated by Babette
Cole: Princess Smartypants (1996) and Prince Cinders (1997), and their French
translations – Princesse Finemouche (1999) and Prince Gringalet (1999). By analysing
the ways in which two semiotic systems (the verbal and the visual) interact in the two
picturebooks and their translations, the study attempts to answer the following question: to
what extent does the translation of a picturebook maintain a unity of words, pictures and
effects?
Description
Faculty of Humanities
School of Translators and Interpretors
9809116e
karirankin@mweb.co.za
Keywords
Transalation, Picturebooks, Verbal, Visual