A Multimodal Approach To Illustrations As A Means Of Translation For Social Science Works ——Taking Gao Ge’s Translation Of The Wealth Of Nations As An Example

In recent years,a large number of illustrated Chinese translations of social science works have been springing up,which reflects the significant role of illustrations in the dissemination of these works,and promotes the in-depth investigation of illustrations in translated works.However,little research has been carried out on the illustrations in the Chinese translations of The Wealth of Nations,a masterwork in social science.Just like language,illustrations,as one of the many communicational modes,can present the ideational,interpersonal,and textual meanings initially proposed by M.A.K.Halliday（1985）.Arnheim（1997）argues that “some kinds of images may be better at creating direct emotional impact,and text may be more suited to carrying out logical analysis”（p.253）.The interpersonal meaning,due to its close link with images,is most effectively realized by illustrations in the translation of The Wealth of Nations,which is thus chosen as the research focus of this study.This thesis first explores the development trend of the illustrated Chinese translations of The Wealth of Nations in recent decades,their proportion in all translations,the characteristics of each edition and the reason behind selecting Gao Ge’s Chinese translation – The Wealth of Nations Illustrated – as the case study,then examines Gao Ge’s translation in great detail under the theoretical framework of Martinec ＆ Salway’s adapted system on the interpersonal meaning,and finally sums up the basic methods and rules in illustrators’ translation of the source text.It has been found through the above study that firstly,in illustrations,that is,image-text combinations,the interlingual translation performs the roles of transferring the meaning from the relevant source text and functioning as explanatory notes for the images in illustrations,and the intersemiotic translation in the form of images fulfills a twofold purpose: on the one hand,it accentuates essential information and adds understandable instances to help readers better understand the relevant economic arguments,and on the other hand,it unwinds the reading experience and creates an agreeable reading rhythm through exploring the rich interpersonal meaning of the source text.In the process of exploring the interpersonal meaning,illustrators are adept at displaying the power relations,visualizing the cultural-historical factors,and inviting empathy and engagement.Secondly,Martinec ＆ Salway’s system of image-text relations has reliable explanatory power in the interpersonal meaning besides the ideational meaning and Martinec and Salway’s image-text relations – elaboration,enhancement,and extension – apply well to the analysis of illustrations in translation.Last but not least,according to statistics,elaboration ranks first with an overwhelming proportion,followed by extension and enhancement,and different translation types vary significantly in their employment of visual systems.These findings are expected to shed light on the interpretation of other illustrated translations of The Wealth of Nations and those of social science works at large.