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Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 14:1 (2019) ► pp.75–94

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‘Intersemiotic translating’

Time for a rethink?

 | York University
Published online: 5 April 2019
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.00031.mos
Abstract
Should transpositions between language and other sign systems be considered a kind of translation? The answer could be yes if the comparison is made to interlingual translating that features a high degree of variance. Here, however, the question will be whether there are any kinds of intersemiotic transposition that feature a high degree of invariance. Four criteria are suggested for defining invariance-oriented translation, and a variety of possible instances of invariant intersemiotic translation are considered, with special mention of transpositions to and from music.
Article outline
  • Defining criteria for ‘translating’
  • Intersemiotic transposition
  • Trivial examples of intersemiotic invariance
  • Back-translatability
  • Regular correspondences
  • Freestandingness
  • FAFSiness (few additions, few subtractions)
  • Visual/linguistic transposition: The wrong place to look for translating
  • Linguistic/musical transposition: The right place to look?
  • Further investigation
  • Which criteria?
  • Coda – Jakobson dixit
  • Notes
  • References
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