Illustrations and the Written Text as Reciprocal Translation – Two Illustrated Versions of Anonymous Bluffer the Great

R. Weissbrod, A. Kohn

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The idea that illustrations which accompany a written text can be regarded as inter-semiotic translation has already triggered research (e.g., Pereira 2015). One of the main features that illustrations as translation share with other kinds of translation is that both involve interpretation. In the present paper, we shall proceed from this starting point and elaborate further on two aspects of illustrations as translation: (a) the interpretation is affected by the fact that the written text and the illustrations are in two different modalities, each using its own means of expression; (b) the distinction between 'source text' and 'target text' blurs because from the perspective of the readers they are co-present. Each of them can be said to translate the other and take part in the creation of a multimodal whole. The texts which serve as a test-case are two editions of the Hebrew illustrated children's book Anonymous Belfi ha-Gadol [Anonymous Bluffer the Great] by Yossi Banai: the 1980 edition with Michal Lewit's illustrations and the 2015 edition with Aviel Basil's illustrations. Banai's story is characterized by his use of organizing frameworks such as the folktale as an underlying model and the concepts of East and West. However, none of them remains intact. Similarly, he distinguishes between truth and lies, wisdom and stupidity etc., but every distinction collapses due to contradictions and paradoxes. The illustrators have responded to Banai's story and at the same time recreated it in accord with their artistic choices and worldviews. The features of Lewit's illustrations – symmetrical structures, restricted color palette, restraint and minimalism – make issues such as truth and lies appear as grave matters that require serious consideration. Basil's colorful illustrations, on the contrary, are cheerful and "go wild" on the page just as Banai does at the linguistic level. Each of the components, the written and the visual, translates the other and shares in the creation of a multimodal work of art, which offers a different reading experience and possibly appeals to different readers.
Original languageAmerican English
Title of host publicationTransfiction: The Fictions of Translation
EditorsJ. Woodsworth
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
PublisherJohn Benjamins
Pages233-252
Volume139
ISBN (Electronic)9789027264510
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Publication series

NameBenjamins Translation Library
PublisherYves Gambier

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