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Article published In: Text and Context Revisited Within a Multimodal Framework
Edited by Yves Gambier and Olli Philippe Lautenbacher
[Babel 70:1/2] 2024
► pp. 89–110

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Brand transcreation as multimodal configuration

The (re)making of text, context, and meaning in brand semiotics

 | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
 | Shandong Normal University
Published online: 12 December 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/babel.00370.wan
Abstract
This article aims at revisiting some key concepts in translation studies by taking into account a new translation or multimodal practice called brand transcreation. Unlike translation proper or brand design proper, brand transcreation involves interlingual and multimodal production in the target culture. It relies on verbal instructions rather than the source text, and intersemiotically, transforms verbal messages into polished multimodal products. Using the systemic-functional sociosemiotic framework, this study delves into the types and dynamic orchestration of semiotic modes involved in two successful brand transcreations from a producer-researcher perspective. The findings reveal that brand transcreation can be defined as a goal-oriented textual production that configures multiple modes and serves specific communicative purposes. In this regard, the concepts of texts, contexts, meaning, and particularly (the categorization of) translation have evolved and require reconsideration.
Résumé
Cet article vise à revisiter certains concepts clés de la traductologie en tenant compte d’une nouvelle pratique de traduction dite multimodale appelée transcréation de marque. Contrairement à la traduction au sens propre ou à la conception de marque proprement dite, la transcréation de marque implique une production interlinguistique et multimodale dans la culture réceptrice, basée principalement sur des instructions verbales plutôt que sur un texte source, et passant inter-sémiotiquement des messages verbaux à des produits finis multimodaux. Dans le cadre de l’approche systémique-fonctionnelle, notre étude explore la transcréation des éléments identitaires dans deux cas, vue par un producteur-chercheur. Elle révèle que la transcréation de marque peut être (re)définie comme une production textuelle avec une visée précise qui traite de plusieurs modes et sert un objectif communicatif spécifique. À cet égard, les concepts de texte, de contexte, de sens et en particulier de traduction (avec leurs divers types) évoluent continuellement et doivent être réexaminés en conséquence.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Translation studies and multimodal studies: A possible convergence?
    • 2.1The turns and twists in translation studies
    • 2.2The surging and burgeoning of multimodal studies
    • 2.3The creative element in translation
  • 3.A multimodal social semiotic analysis of brand transcreation
    • 3.1What is (brand) transcreation?
    • 3.2Multimodal resources and configuration
    • 3.3Multimodal ensembles in brand transcreation
  • 4.Case studies: Two successful brand transcreations
    • 4.1The transcreation of a brand name and logo
    • 4.2The transcreation of a mascot for kindergarten
    • 4.3A reflection on texts, contexts, and translation
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
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