The translation and adaptation of Comics

Up to the present day translation studies have paid little attention to Comics. There are many possible reasons for this. Research within the discipline has for a long time almost exclusively focused on verbal texts. On one hand, since the 1990s it had devoted more attention to audio-visual texts, but a clear emphasis has been with those inter- and intra-lingual forms of translation which are required by films. On the other hand it is much harder to differentiate comics clearly from other text types, regardless of whether comics are seen as a genre, a distinct communication medium or as a hybrid collection of signs. Finally, comics have been regarded – especially in Germany – as unserious, and this undoubtedly has meant that they have been discussed in peripheral areas of literary criticism, media science and translation studies.
We intend in this conference to work with a broad concept of translation: one which embraces both inter-lingual and inter-semiotic aspects of translation. To translate comics from one language and culture into another almost invariably involves the adaptation of non-verbal and para-verbal elements. This is particularly evident both in the increasingly common practice of adapting comics across medium and across genre – as film, video game, radio play, stage play – and in the corresponding practice of adapting literary sources as comics, usually with the label Graphic Novel. In these processes, inter-lingual and inter-semiotic translation goes hand in hand with those adaptation processes which are a necessary part of changing medium or genre.
We have accordingly planned the conference in two sections: one concerned with the field of inter-lingual and inter-semiotic translation, and the other with the field of the adaptation of comics across media and genre. The two forms of translation are, of course, often encountered in combination with one another.
The conference will have an interdisciplinary structure. We explicitly welcome papers with a range of methodological approaches, from media linguistics, narratology and semiotics and from a sociological and historical perspective.
Possible themes and questions might include (the list is not exhaustive)
- specific problems in translating comics, such as
·      Space limitation in the speech bubble
·      The use of onomatopoeia
·      Notational iconicity (especially sound words)
- the examination of individual problems thrown up by the linking of text and image in the translation of comics, such as
·      ‘speaking names'
·      rhymes
·      various forms of humour
·      references to real places, people and events
- creating taxonomies for text-image relations in comics and their effects on translation
- the historical development of the translation of comics in Germany
- narratological examinations of adaptations across media, e.g.
·      from novel to Graphic Novel
·      from comic to feature film or TV serial
·      from comic to radio play
·      from comic to video game
- translation problems connected with the above
- the translation of comics and other polysemiotic texts: similarities and differences
- the work of professional translators of comics and their effects on the translation process, including
·      particular contractual arrangements
·      publishers’ pre-conditions
- specific translation problems connected with
·      sub-genres of comics (factual comic strips, funnies, mangas etc.)
·      adaptations to other target groups (from adults to children etc.)
·      difficulties in determining the genre (e.g. “Diary of a Wimpey Kid”)
·      seriality in comics

The conference languages are German and English.
Each paper is allocated 30 minutes and a further 15 for group discussion.
The conference will take place from Friday 31 October until Sunday 2 November 2014 on the Bühler campus of the University of Hildesheim: organizers are Prof. Dr. Nathalie Mälzer, Maria Wünsche und Philipp Hammer.
We ask for proposals for papers in the fields of linguistics, literary studies, media science and comic research. Proposals should reach us by 28 February 2014. A decision on the acceptance of individual abstracts will be communicated by mid-April. It is hoped that funding will be available for travel costs and accommodation, but at the moment this cannot be guaranteed.
Please send an abstract (approx. 400 words) of your intended 30-minute paper, together with a brief c.v. (approx. 200 words), and your contact details to Prof. Dr. Nathalie Mälzer, Universität Hildesheim: maelzers@uni-hildesheim.de
Of course all of the organizers are at your disposal to answer any questions which you may have.
Prof. Dr. Nathalie Mälzer (maelzers@uni-hildesheim.de)
Maria Wünsche, M.A. (wuensc@uni-hildesheim.de)
Philipp Hammer (hammer@uni-hildesheim.de)