Comics in Translation

Federico Zanettin (ed.) (2008)

Manchester, UK & Kinderhook, NY: St Jerome Publishing. 322 pp.

Reviewed by: Simona Sangiorgi

Whether they are crime, horror, sci-fi, adventure, humorous, or educational, comics belong to the experience of most people of different age groups and cultural backgrounds in most countries, and are often strictly related to numerous other cultural products such as films, advertising, and design. Thus, they may be considered as a phenomenon that pervades culture at different levels, and has a considerable impact on individual and collective sensibilities. What usually passes unnoticed, however, is the fact that such comics are often “experienced” not in their original version, but in a translated one, in which elements of the source and target language and culture meet and “re-articulate” words and images. On the basis of what principles? What are the main factors involved? And what implications does this have from a socio-cultural point of view? Comics in Translation, edited by Federico Zanettin, offers a pathbreaking, multidisciplinary approach to the study of this issue, which, despite its significance, has not been the object of much research yet.

Aspects related to the publishing practices, translation strategies, and reception of various genres of comics in several parts of the world are explored here through the work of ten scholars from different countries and research areas, according to various perspectives. This certainly brings two main advantages: firstly, it allows readers to develop a deeper awareness of the multifaceted world of comics, and of the complex system of social, cultural, and also economic and power relations and processes in which translated comics are inscribed, both within Western and non-Western scenarios; secondly, it offers precious theoretical, methodological and analytical tools not only to scholars and students working in translation studies and translation training, but also to researchers involved in the field of intercultural communication, literary and cultural studies.

The volume is divided into two main sections. The first section focuses on general aspects of the translation of comics, whereas the second section presents a number of case studies that take into consideration comics of different genres and origin, and involve languages such as English, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, French, German, Japanese and Inuit. The first part is introduced by Zanettin, who provides a general overview of comics by exploring their history, linguistic and visual qualities, genres, artistic and cultural value. Moreover, he offers a first panoramic “picture” of the main issues related to the translation of comics, which is seen as a process that can not ignore the hybrid nature of this art form and the interplay of text, images, and culture-specific features affecting both form and content. This is followed by the contribution by Nadine Celotti, who compares the role of the translators of comics to that of semiotic investigators. On the basis of examples from French and Belgian comics and their translation into Italian, she explains such a comparison by observing that the translator’s main task is to be able to read visual and verbal messages in their complex interplay, and to interpret the combination of the different meanings, so that the translated work may function as a sort of “synergetic” unit.

Heike Elisabeth Jüngst focuses on the translation of manga, the Japanese comics, in Western countries. With particular reference to translations into German, she illustrates some of the main issues and strategies related to manga translation practices. These are based on a conception of “text” that includes both its verbal and visual components, which are not just images, but also involve specific publication formats and conventions. Valerio Rota closes the volume’s first part with a discussion on the role of publication formats and graphic elements of translated comics. On the basis of examples referring to the translation of American, French, Italian and Japanese comics, he argues that such elements represent key factors for the construction of the meaning of comics, and therefore shows how possible alterations to them may affect the reception process in the target culture. Raffaella Baccolini and Federico Zanettin open the second part with an analysis of the role of language and translation in translated versions of Maus by Art Spiegelman, who tells the story of his father’s experience during the Shoah in the form of a graphic novel. Two of the main points of this contribution are the impossibility of translating the traumatic experience of the Holocaust into language, which manifests itself through the use of broken language that characterizes the protagonist’s narration, and the problem of translating such a language for the several foreign editions. Particular attention is dedicated to two Italian translations of this comic book. Horror comics, and particularly the Italian translation of the American horror comic book series The Saga of the Swamp Thing are the main focus of the article offered by Adele D’Arcangelo, who provides a detailed discussion of the editorial policies involved in the publication of this work in Italy.

Jehan Zitawi considers a corpus of Disney comics in their original English source texts and their translations into Arabic, and examines them on the basis of Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory. Drawing on her findings, she shows how editorial practices, in terms of censorship, translation strategies, and distribution, may differ in countries such as Egypt and the Gulf States. The volume includes a contribution by Jüngst dedicated to educational comics, i.e., a particular genre of comics whose production, translation and distribution are related to social dimensions that differ from those characterizing fiction comics, since they are aimed at specific narrow target groups within a plurilingual context. Zanettin analyzes the translation of comics according to the dynamics of localization, in order to show how the process of translation involves not only the verbal components, but also a number of elements, actors, and visual signs that are subject to adaptation and “updating” on the basis of the receiving audience. Specific examples are referred to the case of three Italian translations of the French western comic series Blueberry by Charlier and Giraud. The potentially “revolutionary” role of comics and cartoons is discussed by Elena Di Giovanni in her case study based on what she considers as an example of “resistance” within the globalized media market, i.e., the English translations of The Winx Club cartoons and comics. Carmen Valero Garcés focuses on the use of onomatopoeia and unarticulated language in Spanish comic books and, drawing on her investigations, she illustrates the main strategies adopted when translating onomatopoeic forms of American comics into Spanish.

Catherine Delesse considers aspects related to the English translation of the French comic series Astérix and Tintin, and she offers a detailed analysis of some proper names, onomastic puns, and spoonerisms in order to identify and describe the strategies adopted by the translators. Zanettin closes the book with an annotated bibliography on the translation of comics, which includes Internet publications as well, and provides an abstract for most titles listed. The arguments contained in this book may be considered as tesserae of a mosaic, which, in turn, presents itself as a whole, multi-dimensional, and multifaceted argument against the idea of comics as a mere manifestation of “low” and commercial culture. As a matter of fact, the authors’ investigation and discussion of the nature of comics, and of the several aspects involved in the translation of comics, demonstrate the value of this art form and of the translation practices related to it, which go beyond the telling of a story for entertaining purposes.

What emerges from Comics in Translation is an innovative perception and exploration mode of comics, which are to be understood as synthesis of multiple, transversal culture-, society- and identity-bound elements whose interpretation, translation and reception dynamics reveal sensitive indicators of a specific environment, within a specific time and space. Thus, by providing readers with case studies and analytical tools, Zanettin and the other contributors move a significant step towards the elevation of comics to the status of “proper” objects of academic research, and encourage further steps in this direction.