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National Research University Higher School of Economics Journal of Language & Education Volume 4, Issue 4, 2018
Malakhova, V. (2018). Multimodal Pragmatics and Translation. A New Model for Source Text Analysis. Dicerto S. , London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. 178 pp. ISBN 978-3-319-69343-9. Journal of Language and Education, 4(4), 9799. https://doi.org/10.17323/2411-7390-2018-4-4-97-99
Multimodal Pragmatics and Translation. A New Model for Source Text Analysis. Dicerto S. , London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. 178 pp. ISBN 978-3-319-69343-9
Victoria Malakhova
MGIMO University
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Victoria Malakhova, MGIMO University, 76 Pr. Vernadskogo, Moscow, 119454, Russian Federation. E-mail: malakhova313@gmail.com
Translation and its main principles have always attracted attention of researchers in either theoretical or practical fields. There are a lot of theories and guidelines with a long history which have different orientations. They aim to provide translators with different views of the translation process and to help them make adequate translation choices.
Consideration of what is most important in translation has undergone many changes over time. What is also being evolving is the way translation is approached. The alterations in such approaches, as the present volume delineates, are explained by some reasons. First of all, being a rather complex activity, translation cannot be accounted for only in linguistic terms. Besides, modern translators agree to the fact that translation implies working on texts in which the message is communicated beyond words. Another point here is that source texts have changed, too. Up-to-date technological advancements give an opportunity to weave into texts resources other than language, i.e. the combination of words and images, which are now largely under-researched in translation studies. But still they can provide the text with new form of communication or will increase the communicative potential of forms previously available. Subsequently, such a notion as multimodality is coming to the fore.
Having analyzed a general picture of multimodal translation in the literature, Dicerto claims the necessity of a new study providing a move towards a more comprehensive understanding of translation, namely from the standpoint of multimodality.
The aim of this research is to offer a model for multimodal source text (ST) analysis. It will help, on the one hand, to improve understanding of the organization and structure of multimodal texts and their impact on conveying of the meaning, and, on the other, to comprehend the peculiarities of their translation. It is the multimodal focus that distinguishes this book from other works in the same
field. The author shifts the spotlight from language to a detailed analysis of how a variety of multimodal text types convey meaning.
The book is arranged in six chapters, each of them containing several sections.
Chapter 1 A New Model for Source Text Analysis in Translation and Chapter 2 On the Road to Multimodality: Semiotics are mainly conceptual. They give some theoretical frameworks of existing approaches to translation, features of texts and of translating
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VICTORIA MALAKHOVA
norms. The analysis of the literature on the research problem allows the author to state that there is no comprehensive study on multimodality which could link verbal-visual relations of the text not only to issues connected to meaning but also to translation matters. As a consequence, the challenges translators deal with should be looked at from a perspective of multimodal text and their translation in general terms. For this, in her research Dicerto uses genre-specific viewpoints and a composite approach.
More theoretical concepts relevant to this interdisciplinary study are also given in Chapter 2. They concern semiotics - in particular, social semiotics - and multimodality. It is emphasized that semiotic research on sign systems provides full comprehension of signs (verbal, visual, aural) in communication which, in its turn, helps grasp the general multimodal picture. This chapter probes the organization of individual modes, their differences and overlaps; investigates the meaningful interaction between modes and general multimodal messages formation; examines contextual meanings.
Based on the studies of the role of semiotics in multimodal translation, the chapter draws readers' attention to a paucity of common ground in the organization of the semiotic modes and the impossibility of dealing with them homogeneously. So, semiotics is stated to not be enough for building up a full picture of multimodal texts and the peculiarities of their translation. As a conscience, 'communication glue', as the author calls it, binding together different systems, and the overarching multimodal principles sought beyond semiotics are suggested. To this end, the analysis of multimodal texts comprises cognitive-pragmatic approaches, to which Chapter 3 is devoted.
Chapter 3 Multimodal Meaning in Context: Pragmatics continues analyzing multimodal meaning in the context of pragmatics. The author tries to find out the contribution of this discipline to the study of multimodal communication. In this connection, she presents and discusses the literature on the relationship between multimodality and pragmatics with reference to major pragmatic theories, in particular, Grice's theory (1989) of cooperativeness and Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory (1986/1995). The chapter also investigates the links with multimodal issues found in pre-existing work on pragmatics and translation studies. As it is shown, pragmatics can help analyze what a speaker means by their utterances in a specific context. It proves the importance of the role of contextual factors, i.e. contextual interpretation, in the comprehension of multimodal texts. While studying it, Dicerto tries to find an answer to the question - To what extent pragmatics can contribute to a model of multimodal meaning for translation purposes?
This chapter also takes up the justifiability of
application of pragmatics to a written text and gives its main characteristics helping bring text (its author) and its reader close together. It seems to be rather important since differences between the context of the source text and target text cause a major concern.
In Chapter 3 the author concludes that applying pragmatics to multimodal issues is the key to the world of multimodality as it has a greater influence on translation than other areas of linguistics.
Chapter 4 Analysing Multimodal Source Text for Translation: A Proposal confirms that the most viable and logically justifiable approach to multimodality in the context of this study is, by all means, relevant and theoretical. The chapter dwells upon the development of the model for translation-oriented multimodal text analysis progressing from the most general to the most specific dimension of meaning in multimodal texts. As the most general dimension, the chapter highlights pragmatic perspective which helps to categorized multimodal meaning in terms of explicit and implicit meaning contributing, in its turn, to leading the recipient towards the recognition of the sender's intention. More specific dimensions include the meaningful interaction among modes and the meaning contributed by individual modes with reference to visual and verbal modes. As the author sees it, taking the enumerated dimensions into account leads to the integration of a developed picture of the multimodal textual organization reflecting the interaction among textual resources. The chapter directs the readers' attention to the importance of collaboration of all dimensions for building up a pragmatic-based model for analysis of a multimodal text.
The next what is dealt with in this chapter is a transcription tool capable of organizing the results of a textual analysis in a clear, orderly and accessible fashion suitable for its purpose of translation-oriented source text analysis.
Furthermore, the author studies a semantic representation of multimodal messages moving on to discussing the ability of multimodal texts to generate explicatures and implicatures. Then the chapter presents some relationship models helping to understand how the meaning of a multimodal text is conveyed.
Chapter 4 also sets the general boundaries for the scope the model applies. Dicerto specifies the groups of professionals for whom the proposed model can be useful and the types of texts it can be applied to.
The practical application of the model for multimodal source text analysis is delivered in Chapter 5 Multimodal ST Analysis: The Model Applied. The author probes the multimodal organization of the text in order to identify potentially problematic areas for its translation. Potential solutions to individual translation challenges are suggested and an impact of
MULTIMODAL PRAGMATICS AND TRANSLATION. A NEW MODEL FOR SOURCE TEXT ANALYSIS.
the applicable strategies on the level of interpretive resemblance between source and target texts is described. Since the author sees it rather important, at the beginning of the chapter, she highlights the model method of application. It encompasses details relating to selection of the multimodal texts, analytical procedures and coding system used.
The actual analysis of multimodal texts is conducted on three text types, namely: expressive, informative and operative texts. Text types, as it is outlined in the chapter, are the initial criterion for selection as the model can be applied to a broad range of texts, in terms of genres and purposes. For the study, Dicerto selects text in English, which are analyzed and then translated into Italian.
Having exemplified the model applied to the specific texts, the author finds out a strong link of multimodal textual organization to the author's personal style (expressive texts); the relation, and even dependence, to the textual resources (informative texts); and the consistency of the text organization to the certain multimodal text type and challenges for their translation (operative texts).
Chapter 6 Multimodal ST Analysis: Current Status, Opportunities, Way Forward introduces a few reflections on the analysis of the selected texts regarding the model validity and application to the three text types. The author also shows the ways the developed model contributes to the advancement of literature on multimodality, potential modifications for its improvement and its future applicability within translation studies and beyond.
Summing up, let us resume the main results of the present research. The author of the reviewed volume:
• brings together the findings of previous, more specialized work and moves towards a more comprehensive understanding of multimodality in translation;
• studies and gives specific characteristics and features of multimodality and multimodal text;
• appeals to pragmatics as to a key factor in multimodality which can provide definite answers for translation;
• develops a model for the textual analysis for multimodal texts for translation purposes and gives the scope of its applicability;
• describes translation problems in three dimensions of the model - semantic representation of individual modes, semantic representation of the multimodal text and inferential meanings;
• identifies potentially problematic areas for the translation into Italian;
• proposes solutions to the translation challenges, specifying the requirements that
ought to be met by a target text in order to achieve interpretive resemblance regarding the source text.
The author of the present volume has achieved the main goal of the research by developing a model of multimodal texts analysis for translation purposes combining the aspect of pragmatics, studies on multimodality, translation studies and semiotics. This new model for source text analysis is capable of recording aspects related to individual modes as well as to their interaction and to the pragmatic meaning. The model resulted from this study is an analytical tool that can be used to investigate particular types of translation and to analyze translation strategies.
Let us also touch upon the structure and style in which the material in the monograph is introduced. The volume presents a user-friendly structure with some kind of guidance in a form of abstracts at the beginning of each chapter. This outline makes it easy for readers to follow the issues in the chapters. The chapters are divided into sections that can be helpful for readers who would like to re-visit particular chapters and see some highlights of any chapters at a glance.
The material of the research is presented in a rather simple style; however, it does not belittle the scientific way of narration. The author gives her definitions and explanations to all the terms and specific notions; illustrates the theoretical issues with an abundance of practical examples and guidance; summarizes the results of the analysis in tables. All this makes it easier for readers to comprehend the information and increase their awareness of the problems studied.
In addition, the author concludes each chapter with a list of additional references for readers who may seek further reading on the topics explored in the chapters. These sources may also guide readers to further explore issues in multimodality and translation.
The book not only presents research-based findings with regard to issues explored throughout the book but also provides practical advice on how to deal with such issues in a realistic manner.
The volume can be useful for scientists who deal with problems of text translation, for teachers of higher education establishments and for students as well.
References
Grice, H. P. (1989). Studies in the Way of Words.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Sperber, D., & Wilson, D. (1986/1995). Relevance: Communication and Cognition (2nd ed). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
