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In:Transmedia in Translation and Transculturation
Edited by Vasso Giannakopoulou and Elin Sütiste
[Benjamins Translation Library 167] 2025
► pp. 74–98

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A quest for coherence

On translating multiculturality in films, series, and video games belonging to transmedia projects

 | Universitat de Vic — Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic — UCC)
Published online: 20 November 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.167.04puj
Abstract
Transmedia narratives are frequently developed in vast fictional worlds populated by a variety of cultures shaping their setting. These cultures tend to be devised having their own language, dialect, or speech pattern that distinguishes them from the other cultures in these imaginary worlds. In multilingualism, these linguistic phenomena have been labeled third languages (L3). Depending on the nature of the media involved in the transmedia project, content is presented to the user in a combination of sound, image, and word.
Considering the above, a study has been carried out to analyze the rendering of multiculturality in films, TV series, and video games that belong to a transmedia story and its translation into Spanish, with a special attention to the presence of L3. This study has focused on three transmedia sagas (The Lord of the Rings, Song of Ice and Fire, and The Witcher) and conducted a twofold analysis. On the one hand, a selection of meaningful audiovisual fragments showing the multiculturality of the transmedia universes were analyzed through the lens of the signifying codes described by Casetti and Di Chio (2007). On the other hand, the study applied the variables suggested by the Trafilm research project, which describes multilingual instances of audiovisual products and how their translation has been addressed in the English—Spanish combination.
This chapter aims at sharing the findings and conclusions on the role of signifying codes in rendering multiculturality in these transmedia projects and the patterns and tendencies observed in the translation into Spanish of the selected films, TV series, and video games.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Definition and principles of transmedia storytelling
    • Principles of transmedia storytelling
      • Spreadability and drillability
      • Continuity and multiplicity
      • Immersion and extractability
      • World building
      • Seriality
      • Subjectivity
      • Performance
    • Expansion techniques
  • Description of the signifying codes used in the study
    • Linguistic code
    • Paralinguistic code
    • Sound arrangement code
    • Musical and sound effects code
    • Iconographic code
    • Photographic code
    • Mobility code
    • Graphic code
  • Multilingualism as an active agent in multicultural rendering
  • Analyzing multiculturality through multilingualism and signifying codes
  • The Lord of the Rings transmedia project
  • A Song of Ice and Fire transmedia project
  • The Witcher transmedia project
    • Multilingualism translation patterns
  • Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
References (49)
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