《西厢记》英译本封面的多模态翻译比较研究

A Comparative Study on the Multimodal Translations of the Covers in the English Versions of Xixiang ji

译本封面是一个由文字与图像构成的多模态整体,与正文本的语言、插图等内容共同建构了译本的叙事话语,而戏曲(剧)译本的封面更需呈现多模态特征,以调动读者观看兴趣。以戏曲典籍《西厢记》的封面设计为例,从Kress和van Leeuwen的视觉语法视角比较与分析不同复译本封面插图建构的再现意义、互动意义、构图意义及图文间的互动关系,探讨其对戏剧翻译研究的启示。研究发现:《西厢记》多数英译本封面设计较好地传达了译本的多模态意义,但三种意义在呈现上不够均衡,且图文互动关系较为单一,有些译本封面可能会造成读者误读。这需要译者在后续的翻译中更加关注译本的多模态符号设计,以使图文有机互动,更为完整地呈现其多模态意义。

The cover of a translation is a multimodal ensemble composed of words and images,which,together with the language and illustrations of the main text,constitute its narrative discourse,especially for the cover of translated plays,which need to be presented in a multimodal way to arouse readers’interest.Taking the cover design of the play classic Xixiang ji as an example,this paper employs Kress and van Leeuwen’s visual grammar to compare and analyze the representational meaning,interactive meaning,compositional meaning,and the interactions between pictures and texts in the covers of different translations to shed light on the study of theatrical translation.It is found that the cover design of most translations of Xixiang ji well conveys the multimodal meanings of the translated versions,but the three meanings are not uniform in presentation,and the interaction between pictures and text is relatively single,and some covers could lead to misunderstandings.Therefore,it requires the translator to pay more attention to the multimodal symbols in future translation to make the images and texts interact organically and completely present the comprehensive multimodal meaning of the translated text.