Translation techniques used in the translation of comics

SWPS Uniwersytet Humanistycznospołeczny

Wydział Nauk Humanistycznych i Społecznych Filologia Angielska

studia pierwszego stopnia

autor: Piotr Kosiński nr albumu studenta: 34403

Praca licencjacka

Translation techniques used in the translation of comics. Is translating

comics closer to literary or to audiovisual translation?

tytuł w języku polskim: Techniki tłumaczeniowe wykorzystywane przy tłumaczeniu

komiksów. Czy tłumaczenie komiksów bliższe jest przekładowi literatury, czy przekładowi

audiowizualnemu?

Praca napisana pod kierunkiem

Dr Magdaleny Kizeweter

Praca przyjęta:

………………………………………………..

data, podpis kierującego pracą

Warszawa 2015

Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 1

1. Comics, their definition, history and nature .................................................................................... 3

1.1 Attempts at a definition ................................................................................................................. 3

1.2 A brief history of comics ............................................................................................................... 4

1.3 The Specific nature of comics from the translation point of view ................................................ 7

2. Translation techniques ................................................................................................................... 10

2.1 Transfer without explanation ....................................................................................................... 10

2.2 Transfer with explanation ............................................................................................................ 12

2.3 Descriptive equivalent ................................................................................................................. 14

2.4. Omission ..................................................................................................................................... 15

2.4.1. Redundancy ......................................................................................................................... 16

3. Practical use of translation techniques in comics .......................................................................... 18

3.1 Examples of transfer without explanation ................................................................................... 18

3.2 Examples of transfer with explanation ........................................................................................ 19

3.3 Examples of descriptive equivalent ............................................................................................. 23

3.4 Examples of omission ................................................................................................................. 24

Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 27

Works cited............................................................................................................................................ 30

Primary sources ................................................................................................................................. 30

Secondary sources ............................................................................................................................. 31

Streszczenie ........................................................................................................................................... 33

1

Introduction

When looking at comics one may quickly assign this medium to prose. It usually includes

writing, is printed on paper and can easily be bought in bookstores. Only after a more careful

consideration, one may come to the conclusion that comics may be closer to audiovisual

media like film. The visual part of comics is equally (and in some cases even more) important

as the text, which makes it increasingly difficult to classify the medium. This duality is what

makes comics interesting in terms of translation studies.

When translating comics, the translator faces challenges, requirements and opportunities

that can be found both when translating prose and when doing audiovisual translation. The

written form of comics allows the translator to include a preface, footnotes or even a glossary

– techniques impossible when translating a film. On the other hand, the translator is restricted

to speech balloons, thus setting limits similar to ones of audiovisual translation, and making it

impossible to use techniques such as, for instance, explication. The unique characteristics of

comics force the translator to carefully select the techniques he or she uses.

In the first part of this thesis, I shall attempt to create a dictionary-like definition of

comics, which will help me to base my further deliberations on the nature of translation of

comics. Moreover, I shall provide a brief history of how comics developed throughout the

years, which should shed more light on what comics currently are. Lastly, I will present what

interest translators may have in comics and what challenges lie ahead of them.

The second part will serve as a review of selected translation techniques that may be used

in the translation of literature, audiovisual texts and comics. Although all the techniques

described in this thesis may be used in the types of translation mentioned, in each case the use

will be different. For example, when using transfer without explanation, the translator of

literature needs to make sure that the context will enable the reader to understand the

transferred element. Doing the same, the translator of audiovisual texts may have more

support establishing the context for the transfer coming from the visual element of the source

text. All the time, the techniques presented from the point of view of translating prose and

audiovisual texts will be contrasted with their use in comics.

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Lastly, in the third part of this thesis, I shall present examples of translation techniques

used when translating comics. I shall discuss the use of said techniques and weigh it against

the information from chapter 2, trying to find similarities between translating comics and

translating literature or audiovisual texts. This should allow me to answer the question set in

the title of this thesis: is translating comics closer to literary or to audiovisual translation?

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1. Comics, their definition, history and nature

In order to start talking about translating comics we need to learn what comics actually

are. Without the knowledge of the medium, any translator that attempts a translation is

doomed to fail. Therefore, the subchapters below will attempt to define what comics are,

present a brief history of comics and show why the nature of the comics presents particular

challenges to the translator.

1.1 Attempts at a definition

At the first glance defining comics seems quite easy. Everyone who has ever held a

comic book in their hands can say that comics are a series of pictures supplemented with

dialogue, which in combination tell a story. This definition, however, is neither scientific, nor

very precise and cannot be used as a basis for further deliberation.

A more scholarly definition comes from The Concise Encyclopedia of Pragmatics which

defines comics as follows:

“A comic (plural: comics), also known as (a) comic strip(s), is a

narrative form that combines written text and pictorial elements. A

comic consists of a series of interrelated picture/text combinations.

Each single picture stands in direct relation to the preceding units; this

sequential order constitutes a chain of reference.” (2009: 80)

Although this definition is correct, it excludes a significant group of works like comics

without text or single panel comics – cartoons - which are not a part of a sequence. The same

applies to the two definitions that follow.

In Comics & Sequential Art Will Eisner states that comics are “sequential art” which he

considers as “a means of creative expression, a distinct discipline, an art and literary form that

deals with the arrangement of pictures or images and words to narrate a story or dramatize an

idea.” (2000: 5) In his understanding, only in sequence pictures become something else – a

comic. Basing on that, Scott McCloud attempted to create a dictionary-like definition.

“Juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information

and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer.” (McCloud 1994: 9) As I have

mentioned before, these definitions, although broad, exclude single panel comics. What

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McCloud’s definition does, however, is to treat the words of the text element as images, thus

opening the definition to comics devoid of the verbal component.

This approach is argued by Robert C. Harvey, according to whom comics require verbal

content in order to distinguish them from other pictorial narratives. He then goes on to state

that in comics the verbal and visual content are combined in order to convey the meaning that

cannot be achieved by either one alone. (2009: 25). Harvey’s definition of comics is made in

opposition to McCloud’s and states: “(...)comics consist of pictorial narratives or expositions

in which words (often lettered into the picture area within speech balloons) usually contribute

to the meaning of the pictures and vice versa.” (1994: 26)

By not focusing on sequences of pictures, Harvey’s definition includes single panel

comics which McCloud’s and Eisner’s definitions excluded. On the other hand, it excludes

comics devoid of verbal content, but easily distinguishable from pictorial narratives. As a

result, none of the above mentioned definitions, no matter how broad and inclusive, covers the

full scope of what is nowadays considered to be a comic.

Douglas Wolk goes as far as to say that creating a perfect definition of comics is

impossible, because when making one that would include everything counting as a comic,

while leaving out everything considered not to be one, two things happen in result. First,

because the medium of comics is so broad, something is always left out; second, the definition

finally becomes harmful to the person who tried to coin it, as it was with McCloud, who was

criticised for his attempt. (2007: 17)

All the above shows how difficult it is to develop a generally acceptable definition of

comics. Wolk even refuses to provide such, stating that everyone has a general understanding

of what comics are, and that is sufficient for his further work. (2007: 17) It is my belief,

however, that the definitions presented here may be a sufficient source of information on what

comics are and may be, and will be a good basis for my deliberations.

1.2 A brief history of comics

Depending on which of the aforementioned definitions one chooses, the origins of comics

are different. When looking at where comics as sequential art start, McCloud goes as far as

ancient Egypt. He shows that Egyptian paintings in the tomb of Menna are a sequence of

images presenting a consistent story. Other examples of sequential art presented by McCloud

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are the Mexican codex describing the story of 8-Deer “Tiger’s-Claw”, and the Bayeux

Tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest of 1066. (1994: 11-14).

However, if one does not agree to treating all sequences of images as comics, the origins

of comics should be looked for in the 19th

century. McCloud points to Rodolphe Töpffer who

was the first person in Europe to incorporate both words and pictures, use cartooning, and

introduce panel borders all at the same time. (1994: 17) Other forefather of comics can be

found in Germany, where in 1865 Wilhelm Busch published illustrated stories in verse titled

Max und Moritz (Zanettin 2008: 1-2).

Looking to the other side of the Atlantic one can find another significant date for the

history of comics. 1895 saw the creation of Richard F. Outcault’s Mickey Dugan, who soon

came to be known as the Yellow Kid. It was one of the first comic strips published in colour

and with dialogues in speech balloons. (Zanettin 2008: 1) What is more important, the Yellow

Kid “became the first merchandised comic character, appearing on buttons, cracker tins,

cigarette packs, ladies’ fans, and a host of other artifacts of age.” (Harvey 2009: 37)

Comic strips went into the twentieth century and 1930’s have witnessed a real boom in

comics. They were no longer only comical, but now featured a more realistic artwork and

adventure themes. Comic strips started to be collected in comic books, which soon began to

contain original material published periodically. (Zenettin 2008: 2) Detective Comics and

Action Comics are established, and within a year from each other the characters of Superman

(1938) and Batman (1939) are created. Thus starts the ‘Golden Age’ of superhero comics.

“The characters in this era are often considered classical do-gooders chasing down bad guys,

mad scientists, foreign spies” (Oropeza 2005: 10).

The ‘Golden Age’ ends in 1954 with the establishment of the Comic Code Authority. In

1950’s the readers became less interested in noble superheroes supporting the war effort of

World War II and their focus turned towards comics of crime, romance and horror. This

became a cause for alarm among the society. After the publication of a book by Fredric

Wertham titled Seduction of the Innocent, the publishers fearing legal action against them

created the Comic Code Authority, which followed the policy of self-censorship regarding the

contents of comics. (Zanettin 2008: 2-3)

Self-censorship visibly crippled the American comic book industry. Without the topic

popular at that time, comic books began losing to television, and sales dropped resulting in the

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cancellation of many titles. This became a chance for comics in the European countries,

where because of a diminishing stream of publications coming from America, domestic artists

could continue the themes and genres created by their American colleagues and create their

own new ones. (Zanettin 2008: 3)

In 1960’s and 70s a new type of comics emerged in Europe. Their audience consisted

mostly of educated adults rather than the general public. They lacked periodicity and were

complete stories rather than on-going series of adventures. In countries with widest comic

readership, i.e. France, Belgium, Italy, comics stopped being merely children’s entertainment

and tapped into more adult themes and imagery. (Zanettin 2008: 3)

In America, the Silver Age of comics began and it lasted from 1956 until 1985 (Oropeza

2005: 11). DC comics re-imagined their old characters like the Flash, who got a new identity

and a new costume, others soon followed. In 1963 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the

Fantastic Four, which became widely successful and made way for numerous new creations

from Marvel comics like the Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor or Daredevil. Oropeza

describes the difference between the Golden Age heroes and ones from the Silver age as

follows:

“Their origin stories mostly resulted from scientific accidents, with atomic

age radiation as a prime culprit. (...) Unlike the Golden Age, these heroes had

visible flaws and acted very human, The Avengers argued with one another,

Daredevil was blind, Donald Blake (Thor)was crippled, Iron Man wore a

pacemaker and later struggled with alcoholism, and Spider-Man was beset

with all kinds of teen problems and inner conflicts.” (2005: 12)

In the 1970’s underground comics began to appear in America. They disregarded the

Comic Code Authority and published more adult contents dealing with sex, drugs and politics.

In 1980’s the ‘mainstream’ publishers like DC and Marvel followed the path of the

underground comics and made the contents of their comics more mature (Daredevil’s love

interest was a contract killer, while his previous significant other got addicted to drugs and

became an adult film actress). In order to give their comics a more grown-up status,

publishers started to develop a new line of comic books – graphic novels.

The Emergence of graphic novels marked the end of the Silver Age of comics. 1986 saw

the publication of Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and marked the beginning of

modern comics. Other graphic novels like Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ Watchmen

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(1986-1987) or Art Spiegelman’s Maus (1991) soon followed and did not stop coming.

Significantly, in 1992 Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize for his work on Maus, which

became the ultimate proof that comics had stopped being simply entertainment for children

and started to become a respected art form directed at adults.

Of course, comics are constantly being created. Since comics became a worldwide

medium they are also being translated to various languages. The biggest amount of translated

comics comes from the United States of America, however, Japan is close behind with their

comics – manga. Nevertheless, American comics still take prime among the translated works

mainly “because they have introduced genres and models (themes, drawing styles, visual

conventions) which have been incorporated and developed within other national traditions

(Zanettin 2008: 4).

1.3 The Specific nature of comics from the translation point of view

The Previous subchapters showed the failure in developing a comprehensive definition of

comics and indicated how peculiar this medium can be. This unique combination of text and

image poses a significant difficulty for translators. In comics the images interplay with the

text and vice versa, and in order to provide a good translation, translators need to be aware of

that interplay.

When discussing this phenomenon, Zanettin brings the example of the Italian translation

of Moore’s and Gibbons’ Watchmen (2008: 16-17). This particular graphic novel was selected

because of its seemingly standard and typical arrangement of pages. Only after a closer

examination, the reader can find the intricacies of the construction of the comic. Since the

graphic novel has been translated into Polish, I shall attempt a similar analysis, but of a

different frame than the one discussed by Zanettin.

Watchmen begins with two detectives investigating the death of a former superhero, the

Comedian. The images of their investigation at the victim’s flat are set side by side with

images of a flashback to the Comedian’s murder. The dialogue of the detectives as if seeps

through to the flashbacks becoming a narration for the event the detectives are investigating.

The Detectives leave the murder scene and head towards the lift, but the flashback continues.

As they enter the lift, its operator asks them which floor they would like to go to. Upon

hearing that the detectives wish to go to the ground floor, he confirms their selection saying

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“Ground floor comin’ up”. It is his confirmation that ‘seeps through’ to the flashback and

becomes the commentary to the events happening. (see picture. 1)

Jacek Drewnowski (Moore 2003), the translator of the Polish edition, proposes the

following translation: “Parter, jedziemy” [lit. “Ground floor, we’re riding”]. His translation

although fitting for a lift operator to say during a lift ride, seems to miss the ‘flashback

commentary’. The Comedian being pushed from the window is not riding anywhere.

Moreover, the word “jedziemy” can be understood as a call for action, something the killer

clearly does not need, as he is in the middle of performing said action.

My suggestion to solve that particular problem would be to translate the phrase as

“Następny przystanek, parter” [lit. “Next stop, ground floor”]. It fits better as a description of

what is happening in the flashback without the unnecessary call for action, and also seems to

be something that the lift operator would say.

(Picture 1. Watchmen – Comedian being thrown out of the window and the translation of the scene [below])

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This example clearly shows what pitfalls await an inattentive translator who translates

comics as if they consisted only of the written element, without considering the surrounding

images and their composition. Zanettin comments on that as follows:

The translation of comics is different from ‘translation proper’ not only

because words co-exist with non-verbal systems, but also because verbal

language in comics is only part – if sometimes the only visible part (i.e. overt

translation) – of what gets translated. From a descriptive stance, however,

while the analysis can be focused only on the translation of the verbal

component, it cannot dispense with an examination of how words interplay

with pictures in the co-construction of meaning. (2008: 23)

This chapter served as a presentation of what comics are, what is their history and what

makes their character so peculiar. I also mentioned what the translator should be aware of

when attempting a translation. Further chapters will focus on particular translation techniques

and how they may be used in literary translation, audiovisual translation or the translation of

comics.

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2. Translation techniques

Hejwowski makes a division between translation strategies and techniques, defining

strategies as a translator’s decision about the approach towards the text (foreignisation or

domestication), and techniques as a translator’s approach towards a particular issue in

translation (2004a: 76). Various translation scholars, however, recognise different techniques

or have different names for them. And thus, Newmark prefers to use the name translation

procedures rather than techniques (1988: 81), and what Vinay and Dalbernet call “calque”

(qtd. in Hejwowski 2004b: 135), Newmark calls through-translation (1988: 84). Therefore, in

order to maintain clarity, in this thesis I shall follow the classification made by Hejwowski in

Translation. A Cognitive-Communicative Approach.

While it is possible to apply foreignisation or domestication to literature, film or comics,

sometimes, it is impossible to use some of the translation techniques in some of the above

media. For example, while in literature or comics it is possible to provide a footnote

explaining a particular transfer, it is impossible to perform it in audiovisual translation. This

comes from the fact that while prose translation, literary or not, is relatively free of

limitations, audiovisual translation has certain limits to which the translator needs to adhere

(Mayoral et al 1988: 361). Limitations such as a set number of characters in one line of

subtitles, or the necessity to fit the translated text in the exact time the original was spoken,

make audiovisual translation significantly different from translating prose.

This chapter will research selected techniques that may be used in the translation of

literature and in audiovisual translation, and compare them to practical examples used in

translating comics.

2.1 Transfer without explanation

Hejwowski states that transfer is placing a word from SL without translating it into TL.

While using this technique in contexts that explain the meaning of the transferred word may

be useful, in other situations Hejwowski advises caution. If the context does not give any

clues regarding the word’s meaning, or the readers are unfamiliar with the word, they might

be forced to guess or completely abandon the attempts to interpret the phrase, which would

not be beneficial to the reception of the text as a whole. Therefore, the translator must be very

11

clear that transferring an item and not explaining it would not estrange the reader from the

text. (2008: 136)

Regarding audiovisual translation, while talking about transfer Tomaszkiewicz points out

that in this form of translation it is often impossible to provide explanation to the transfer but

just as in literature, the context may be selective enough for the viewer to understand the

meaning of the transfer. (2006: 156) Moreover, Borowczyk points out that in TV programmes

transfer occurs when mentioning cities, regions and other administrative units, squares,

streets, schools, monuments, names of newspapers or magazines (qtd. in Tomaszkiewicz

2006: 156). Tomaszkiewicz comments that transfers of cultural elements are often used,

however, they often do not allow the viewer to grasp the full sense of the message. (2006:

158)

In terms of translating comics, the use of transfer without explanation is similar as in

literature. Transfer is often used in the context of proper names of heroes or villains, which

usually mean something or have a recognised equivalent, but it is customary to use the

transferred name (Wolverine – Rosomak, Cyclops – Cyklop). That does not mean that other

cultural items are not being transferred. Below (picture. 2.), is an example of transfer without

explanation taken from the Polish translation of Doctor Strange: the Oath. In this image the

translator decided to transfer the word ‘droids’, probably in order to avoid using the word

‘robots’, which is already present elsewhere on the page.

(Picture. 2 Doctor Strange fighting security droids, and the Polish translation – example of transfer)

What is also visible from the example above is that in opposition to literary translation,

comics and audiovisual media provide extended possibilities of establishing the context

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necessary for understanding the transferred word. While translation of literature relies solely

on words, in comics the context can also be built by the images. As the example above shows,

the reader does not need to know what a droid is, the images accompanying will help to

understand that a droid is a type of a humanoid robot.

2.2 Transfer with explanation

With this technique, the translator transfers the cultural element without changing and adds

a brief explanation either in the form of a footnote, an afterword or in-text addition.

Hejwowski considers this technique as safer than transfer without explanation. It allows the

translator to make sure that the reader has a similar experience while reading as the reader of

the original work. However, he sees two particular drawbacks. First, too much explaining

might spoil the reading experience and may deprive the reader of the pleasure of coming to

desired conclusions on their own. Second, too extensive explanations (especially footnotes)

may bring the book closer to a handbook on the source culture rather than a piece of literature.

(2004: 137)

In comics, the restrictions in terms of the available space somehow diminish those

problems. It is impossible for the footnotes to be long as they must fit within the gutter – the

space between two frames. In superhero comics they usually concern translations of names of

heroes or villains, which as mentioned before, are typically transferred. In the Polish

translations of Asterix, footnotes were used to explain popular Latin sayings frequently used

by the characters. Moreover, it is also available to insert a box within the free space of the

comic frame that would fit the necessary footnote (see picture 3 below).

(Picture 3. Example of footnotes in comics)

What is interesting in this particular example, is the fact that the footnote refers to an

acronym mentioned on the previous page of the comic book. This solution is not ideal, as the

footnote is neither directly below the frame it refers to, nor it is below the whole page, and it

13

may cause confusion in the reader. However, the decision regarding the placement of the box

is justifiable, since the footnote required an explanation of the acronym together with its

translation, it required some space, which was not available in the gutter below the frame or

under the whole page.

Because comics belong are a print-based medium, unlike in film there is a possibility to

present an afterword written by the translator. In such an afterword the translator may explain

the cultural context of the ST, or the decisions made while translating. This however,

corresponds to the problems Hejwowski has with this translation technique.

In their lengthy afterword1 the translators of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family

Tragicomic explained what difficulties they faced while translating. They described their

problems with translating the title (‘Fun Home’ being a pun on ‘Funeral Home’) and

especially their struggle in finding appropriate equivalents for words referring to the sphere of

sexuality (Bechdel 2010a: pp. 4-7). While the translation of the comic was considered to be

successful, the afterword met with a mixed reception. In his text Tłumacz Tłumaczy

Tłumaczenie, Hubert Kowalewski presented his reservations regarding the afterword. He

stressed that the translators of Fun House had created a very good translation that would have

been considered as ‘invisible’, but in his opinion, the afterword put focus on the translators

themselves and the issues of which the readers should not be aware, thus limiting the reading

experience.

Footnotes and afterwords are not the only possible ways to use the technique of

transferring with an explanation. It is also possible to add information within the text by using

a definitional extension. By using this technique a translator adds the explanation next to the

transferred element. When describing the technique in the context of audiovisual translation,

Tomaszkiewicz focuses on expanding on geographical names, names of magazines or

acronyms of political parties. (2006: 158-159) However, she also mentions that definitional

extension is less frequently used than definitional periphrasis, which I will be discussing later

in this thesis.

As regards comics, definitional extension may be used, however, it is somewhat difficult

due to the restrictions in the available space. In order to do so, translators need to carefully

1 In the first Polish edition of Fun Home: a Family Tragicomic, the note from the translators was an afterword

inserted after the content of the comic. In the second edition, the afterword was moved to the front as a preface. Although when writing this thesis I have been using the second edition, all the commentary to the note refers to it as ‘the afterword’. Therefore, in order to maintain consistency, I too shall refer to the note as ‘the afterword’.

14

choose the words within the speech balloon, and reduce any redundancies. By doing that, the

translator may conserve enough space to insert a definitional extension.

Picture 4 shows how space management allows the translator of Avengers Forever to

expand on a transferred item. In this example particularly the cultural item needed to be

transferred, not translated, as it is customary in comics not to translate proper names.

Moreover, the character’s name also brings meaning to its owner’s nature, thus, the translator

needed to explain the hidden reference.

(Picture 4. Libra explains the origin of his name – example of transfer with explanation)

In this example the translator reduced the phrase ”my true interests lay in...“ into

”I follow...“ and omitted the redundant ‘in the first place’ thus leaving space for an

explanation of the Latin origin of Libra’s name. The same could be achieved by inserting a

footnote, however, as it was mentioned before, this could spoil the reading experience.

2.3 Descriptive equivalent

Using this technique, a translator presents an equivalent of a cultural element by describing

the element itself. Thus, using a descriptive equivalent, the Polish ”ptasie mleczko” might get

translated into English as ”chocolate covered marshmallows”. However, Hejwowski points

out that this technique is not most suitable when translating literary allusions. When translated

through description, the alluded piece of literature becomes too obscure for the reader to

follow the allusion. (2004: 142)

Out of several types of equivalence mentioned by Tomaszkiewicz in Przekład

audiowizualny none exactly matches the definition of a descriptive equivalent. However, there

15

is another technique – not an equivalent by name - that appears to match it closely. That

technique is definitional periphrasis. Jean Delisle describes definitional periphrasis as “a

result of some amplification based on using a complex, descriptive expression in the TT

instead of a single word from the ST” (2006: 73). Although according to Tomaszkiewicz, this

technique has more uses than the before mentioned definitional extension, it is still limited

due to the restrictions in the space available for translation (2004: 164).

Picture 5. below shows how a descriptive equivalent may be used in comics to substitute a

cultural element that is not widely known to the TL readers.

(Picture 5. Aunt May explains her fondness of Iron Man – example of descriptive equivalent)

In this example, the translator decided to provide a descriptive equivalent instead of simply

transferring the name of Ronald Colman. Instead of the British actor’s name, the translator

described him as a romantic lead from old films. By using a descriptive equivalent, the

translator avoided transferring the name of an actor not widely known in Poland, but managed

to retain the element that brings an association with an old-time actor who an elderly lady

might be fond of.

2.4. Omission

In this technique, the translator decides not to translate certain words or phrases that are

present in the ST. These may be items that are problematic to translate, or the translator finds

them unimportant to the core idea of the text. Hejwowski claims that omissions are not

acceptable in ambitious literary text, as their use equals to editing the work that is being

translated (2004b: 142).

When mentioning omission in audiovisual translation, Tomaszkiewicz states that

omissions of cultural elements of the ST are rare and need a selective context in order to

perform them (2004: 155). However, since audiovisual translation needs to follow certain

16

(Picture 6. Example of an expanded speech balloon)

restrictions regarding the length of the text (for example, a limited number of characters in

one line of subtitles)2, omissions of redundant elements is frequent.

2.4.1. Redundancy

Redundant elements are those that are deemed not essential, unnecessary, or repetitive.

They do not add any new information and do not change the meaning of the message

(Zabalbeascoa 2008: 31). Tomaszkiewicz describes several types of redundancy which are

useful for audiovisual translators. Those are:

Verbal redundancy in regard to the recipient’s cognitive knowledge, where the

translator may omit certain elements of the dialogue, for example, opening and

closing sequences, knowing that the viewer has enough social knowledge to

reconstruct the missing elements.

Redundancy in regard to other verbal elements, where the translator may omit

words or phrases that have previously been uttered – stutters, repetitions of words –

or elements that have the phatic function.

Redundancy of verbal elements in regard to visual elements, where the

translator may omit the verbal elements that are duplicated by a visual element –

for example, a farewell accompanied by a good-bye wave.

As it was previously stated, in

comics the translator may choose to

omit redundant elements in order to

maintain brevity of the text or to

make space for explanations.

However, said omissions are not as

great a necessity as in the case of

audiovisual translation. First, it is

because there is no surplus of text.

The text the translator of comics

translates comes from the speech

2 Bogucki states that there is no unified Polish standard for creating subtitles (2004), which makes the limitations

in creating audiovisual translations less restrictive. However, there have been attempts at setting unified

subtitling standards in Europe (see: Fotios Karamitroglou A Proposed Set of Subtitling Standards in Europe.

Translation Journal Vol. 2 No. 2. 1998)

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balloon and needs to fit into the same speech balloon. Therefore, there is no superfluous text

that needs to be omitted. Second, while audiovisual translation needs to follow certain

restrictions regarding the target text – the number of characters in subtitling, or the time

necessary to read the text in voice-over or dubbing – the restrictions in comics are more

lenient. If the target text becomes longer than the source text, there is also the possibility of

expanding the speech balloon, thus providing the necessary space. Picture 6 provides a good

example of that fact. After a careful inspection of both images, one can clearly see that the

speech balloons are not identical and the one containing the Polish translation is slightly

larger than the one from the ST.

In this chapter, I presented selected translation techniques that may be used in translating

comics and literature or audiovisual texts. A brief description of those techniques from the

point of view of each type of translation has shown that certain parallels may be drawn

between the use of the techniques in the translation of comics and either of the mentioned

types of text. In the next chapter, I shall discuss more examples of the mentioned techniques

used in the translation of comics, which will allow me to draw conclusions as to whether in

terms of translation techniques comics are closer to literary or to audiovisual translation.

18

3. Practical use of translation techniques in comics

In the previous chapter, I discussed various translation techniques used in the translation of

both literary and audiovisual texts. In this chapter, I will provide and discuss practical

examples of the mentioned techniques used in the translation of comics. This will allow me to

draw conclusions whether the use of those techniques brings translating comics closer to the

translation of literary or audiovisual texts.

3.1 Examples of transfer without explanation

As I have stated above, transfers without explanation in comics are a common occurrence .

Most names of superheroes are directly transferred from the SL; Superman is not translated

into Nadczłowiek. The Names of newspapers or geographical names are also usually

transferred without explanation. Thus, in Polish translations, Superman’s alter-ego – Clark

Kent – still works at the Daily Planet, and not “Dziennik Planeta”. When one of the characters

shouts that the Sub-mariner just flooded the Holland tunnel (Busiek 1994: 18), in Polish the

Holland tunnel is not translated into “tunel Hollanda”. The context is clear, there is no need

for additional explanations; the plot takes place in New York, and the Holland tunnel is one of

the city’s tunnels.

While transfers without explanation are frequently applied in the translation of comics,

they still need to be used with caution. If the name of Captain America were not translated,

the characters would need to refer to him as “Captain” rather than “Kapitanie”, making the

dialogues awkward to read. Moreover, if the elements of the foreign culture are transferred

directly, and there is no visual context to facilitate a better understanding of such elements,

their meaning becomes vague. This could take forms as serious as in this example from the

Polish translation of Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home: A Family Tagicomic:

The original title of volume two is À l’homre

des jeunes filles en fleurs, literally “In the

shadow of young girls in flower”

The translation to Within a Budding Grove

shifts the emphasis primly from erotic to

botanical. (Bechdel 2006: 109)

Oryginalny tytuł drugiego tomu to À l’homre

des jeunes filles en fleurs, czyli „W cieniu

zakwitających dziewcząt”

Tłumaczenie pierwszego anglojęzycznego

wydania, Within a budding grove, zmienia

charakter zdania z erotycznego na botaniczny

(Bechdel 2010b: 117)

19

In this fragment, the narrator discusses the English translation of the title of volume two of

Proust’s In Search for Lost Time. While in the ST the shift in the emphasis between the

original and the translation of the title of the volume is clear, in TL the shift is vague. The

reason for that comes from the fact that while the English explanation of the French title is

translated, the actual English translation is transferred into the TT. Thus, persons with no

knowledge of English are left without explanation as to why Within a budding grove is

botanical.

The reason for such use of a transfer may come from the previous page of the comic,

where the narrator discusses the translation of volume four of Proust’s work.

In dad’s edition of Proust, the title of volume

four is chastely translated as Cities of the

Plain from the French Sodome et Gomorrhe.

(Bechdel 2006: 108)

Ojciec posiadał wydanie Prousta, w którym

czwarty tom został cnotliwie przetłumaczony

na Cities of the plain, z francuskiego Sodome

et Gomorrhe (Bechdel 2010b: 116)

At a first glance, the situation is the same as in the previous example. The transfer of Cities

of the plain makes it impossible for the non-English speaking reader to understand why the

translation is so “chastely”. However, this particular transfer has been discussed in the

afterword from the translators (see 2.2.), making it a transfer with explanation. However, by

transferring the second title and not explaining it, the translators have caused the readers to

lose the point of the narrator’s critique. This could be easily avoided if the translators had

provided a translation for both titles – Miasta płaskowyżu, and W kwitnącym gaju. Since the

narrator is American, and the whole graphic novel is set in America, it would be

understandable that the narrator refers to English not Polish titles.

The above examples serve to show that although it is easy to transfer cultural elements

without explaining them, it may cause the reader to lose the sense of the transferred element.

If used carefully, this technique may be used in both literary and audiovisual translation with

equal success. This however, does not bring us closer to answering the question posed in the

topic of this thesis: Is translating comics closer to literary or to audiovisual translation? The

next subchapter will shed more light on the answer.

3.2 Examples of transfer with explanation

Transfers with explanation are a good way to transfer cultural elements without risking that

the reader would be lost not knowing what the transferred word or phrase means. Usually, it

takes a subtle form of adding just a word of explanation. For example: “They were holding

20

him at Ryker’s Island, pending trial.” – “Trzymali go w więzieniu na Ryker’s Island. Czekał

na rozprawę.” By adding ”w więzieniu” – ”in prison”, the translator explained that Ryker’s

Island is home to a prison well-known in American culture. The cost in the available space

was little, and the reader knows exactly what is the meaning of Ryker’s Island.

In other cases, the translator needs to use additional techniques, like omission, to add even

a simple explanation:

You think we’re playing by the Marquis of

Queensberry’s rules or something?

(Millar, Dodson 2004b: 8)

Tobie się wydaje, że walczymy według reguł

bokserskich markiza Queensberry’ego?

(Millar, Dodson 2015a: 69)

By omitting the redundant “or something” – which could be translated as “czy coś” – the

translator made space for an explanation for the rules in mention. The explanation is

necessary, since Marquis of Queensberry and his rules are not widely known in Poland and

the reader might get confused as to what the rules refer.

Sometimes, however, it is not possible to add a subtle explanation that would blend into

the text. There are cases when it is necessary to include both a transferred item and its direct

translation serving as an explanation.

Nuke. Such a simple term. So direct

(Miller, Mazzucchelli 1986: 5)

Nuke. Atomówka. Taki prosty przydomek.

Tak bezpośredni.

(Miller, Mazzucchelli 2013: 128)

It is a custom not to translate the names of heroes or villains, unless they serve some

further purpose. In the example above, Kingpin ponders on the name of the villain he hired.

Since the name is a cause for further deliberation, the translator needed to provide a

translation so that the reader may understand Kingpin’s train of thought. The translator

however, could not replace the original name completely, because the name Nuke is

problematic in Polish. Nuke – Atomówka is a feminine noun, which is less than suitable for a

Vietnam veteran turned villain. Moreover, Atomówki is also the Polish translation of

Powerpuff Girls – a cartoon about girl-superheroes. Thus, simply replacing Nuke with

Atomówka would effeminate this very masculine character, and allow the reader to associate

the character with little girls fighting crime. Therefore, instead of replacing the name with its

translation, the translator decided to provide the translation next to the original.

21

There are cases where the reasons for including transfer with translation as an explanation

instead of simply translating a cultural element come not only from the subsequent text, but

also from the surrounding images.

Spendin’ my nights at the Prophecy.

(Windsor-Smith 2013: 4)

Noce spędzam w “Prophecy” –

“Przepowiedni”.

(Windsor-Smith 2014: 5)

In the example above, the translator explains the name of the hotel. This is due to the fact

that the original name is featured as a neon sign in the next frame. Moreover, the name of the

hotel becomes a starting point for wordplay. Not transferred, the name of the hotel would

clash with the image in the next frame, not explained, it would not lead to the wordplay about

prophecies.

This example serves showing that although the translator uses a technique that is present in

literary more than in audiovisual translation, he or she needs to be aware of the text as well as

of the surrounding images, which is a requirement of audiovisual translation.

As was mentioned before, Hejwowski encourages the use of transfer with explanation

rather than that without explanation, but warns that including too many explanations in the

form of footnotes may spoil the pleasure of reading. This is very well exemplified by the

Polish translation of the first volume of Brian K. Vaughan’s Y: The Last Man.

In this comic, full of intertextual references, the translator, Krzysztof Uliszewski, decided

to add 42 endnotes referring to cultural elements like films, musicians or American

governmental agencies. While it is commonplace in comics to provide notes for acronyms of

foreign institutions like CDC – Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, it is not frequent

that references to popular culture are explained. Typical readers of comics have a fair amount

of knowledge about popular culture, since comics are a part of it. Thus, when Uliszewski

provides endnotes for the Ramones, Kurt Cobain or even Luke and Leia from Star Wars,

instead of being informative, the endnotes become annoying. Additionally, some of the

endnotes refer to real-life phenomena like the survivor’s syndrome or the Braxton Hicks

contractions, which adds to the confusion, since the phenomena are present in the ST and not

explained by the author. Lastly, there are endnotes that Uliszewski made with disregard of the

specific nature of comics, which is the coexistence of words and images. The last endnote

refers to capuchin monkeys, and is made in a speech balloon next to the picture of a capuchin

which accompanies the main character throughout the whole comic. Moreover the endnote

22

only explains that capuchins are members of the Platyrrhini family, which not only is not

informative as it explains the supposedly unknown word with a series of even less known

ones, it also is counterfactual and adds to the information noise caused by the collected

endnotes. In this case, instead of helping the readers, the endnotes cause irritation and

confusion.

Not all footnotes or endnotes overload the TT with information and cause confusion

among the readers. Usually, they actually help the reader to understand the context in which

the transferred phrase is presented. Moreover, footnotes may be helpful in translating images

containing graffiti or store signs which are important to the plot (see picture 7 below).

(Picture 7. Anti-mutant graffiti – example of footnotes translating text in images)

The use of footnotes presented in Picture 7 is also present in audiovisual translation when

the subtitles contain the translation of the writing seen on the screen. In this particular

example, it would be impossible to replace the text of the graffiti without destroying the

visual integrity of the whole comic. However, the contents of the graffiti is important as it

builds up the atmosphere of tension around mutants. Therefore, the translator decided to

translate the graffiti in a footnote placed in a specially made caption box.

It is important to point out that explaining through footnotes or an afterword is not possible

in of audiovisual translation. There is no place for them during the course of the film, nor

during the end credits. Therefore, the only transfer with explanation that is possible to conduct

in audiovisual translation is the short insert that does not take much of space or time to read.

Because of their print-based form, comics give the translator the possibility of adding

something that was not present in the original text and is significantly longer. This brings

translating comics closer to literary translation rather than audiovisual translation.

23

3.3 Examples of descriptive equivalent

As mentioned before, a descriptive equivalent is used in order to explain the cultural

element without transferring it. Hejwowski points out that this technique may only be used if

the cultural element is used once in the text, since repeating the whole description would be

pointless. Below is a short example of how a descriptive equivalent may be used in translating

comics.

(...)And the orphanage had a pile of old pulp

novels...

(Busiek, Pacheco 2001b: 13)

(...)A w sierocińcu mieliśmy stertę starych

tanich powieści.

(Busiek, Pacheco 2015: 77)

In this simple example, instead of making a transfer into “powieści pulpowe”, which is

present in Polish, however, not popular, the translator decided to use a descriptive equivalent

and change “pulp novels” into “cheap novels”.

More often, the descriptive equivalent is more complex, which brings more difficulty for

the translator.

Supersonic wedgie!!!

(Millar, Dodson 2004c: 18)

Ściągniemy ci majtki przez głowę!

(Millar, Dodson 2015b: 68)

Out of many practical and impractical jokes school children play on each other, wedgies

are not popular among Polish students. Therefore, the translator decided to provide a

descriptive equivalent, sacrificing “supersonic” in order to explain that a wedgie is a process

of violently pulling the victim’s underwear upwards, as if pulling it through one’s head.

In this particular example, one exclamation has been expanded into a full declarative

sentence, which is feasible in literary translation or in the translation of comics, since there is

no reference to the original. In some aspects of audiovisual translation, however, doing so

could become problematic. In dubbing, for example, it would be difficult to overdub such an

exclamation with a significantly longer sentence like the one presented here, since the

translated text needs to match the time the original phrase is spoken. Of course, the voice-over

actor may read faster, but since it is easier to read something more slowly rather than faster,

translators choose to come up with translations that are shorter than the original text and make

actors read them more slowly (Tomaszkiewicz 2006: 109-110) Thus, translating “supersonic

wedgie” (6 syllables) into “Ściągniemy ci majtki przez głowę” (9 syllables) might be

problematic in dubbing. A better solution would be “Majtki mu prze vowel.

24

While explaining what the meaning of wedgie is fairly simple for the translator of comics

and poses more difficulty to the audiovisual translator, the concept from the example below

poses a bigger challenge, since it does not exist in the target language.

You ever have a vision of the green, miss?

Fiddler’s green. Davy Jones’s Locker.

(Snyder, Murphy 2014b: 7)

Widziałaś już kiedyś zarys wzgórz?

Zielonych wzgórz, gdzie po śmierci idą

żeglarze. Czy zajrzałaś do skrzyni

Davy’ego Jonesa?

(Snyder, Murphy 2015: 160)

While the myth of Davy Jones’s Locker has been popularised through films like The

Pirates of the Caribbean, the myth of Fiddler’s Green is relatively unknown to the Polish

public (although the readers of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman would know it as “Zielony zakątek”).

That is why the translator used a descriptive equivalent to explain what Fiddler’s Green is and

left the Davy Jones’s Locker as a recognised equivalent.

Fiddler’s Green is a place where souls of dead sailors go when they die at sea. However,

entrance to Fiddler’s Green requires fifty years of service at sea, which is the reason why not

many souls could get there, and most would end in a less pleasing place – the Davy Jones’s

Locker (Eyers 2012: 57).

The descriptive equivalent for Fiddler’s Green provides a good explanation of what that

place is – green hills where sailors go when they die. However, it is worth noting that the

provided explanation has significantly expanded the TT (80 characters to 125), thus making it

difficult to put into potential subtitles. This shows that using a descriptive equivalent has a

greater dose of freedom in comics than in audiovisual translation.

3.4 Examples of omission

As I have mentioned before, translators of comics use omission in order to improve the

flow of the dialogue, to provide space allowing other translation techniques to be used, or to

solve particular translation problems.

Omission may be used not only in regards to cultural elements, but also in the case of those

that are redundant and do not change the meaning of the phrase or bring any new information.

In audiovisual translation, this helps to reduce the length of subtitles or the amount of text that

the voice-over artist needs to read. In comics, it reduces the amount of space the translated

text takes, thus ensuring that the target text fits into the original speech balloon.

The example below shows how a simple omission may reduce the length of the target text

that if not shortened may require that the speech balloon is expanded.

25

‘(...)Leave the search for new cures to the

drug companies.’

‘Like the board of Timely Farmaceuticals?’

(Vaughan, Martin 2011: 22)

„(...)Niech poszukiwaniem nowych leków

zajmą się firmy farmaceutyczne.”

„Takie jak Timely Pharmaceuticals?”

(Vaughan, Martin 2015: 105)

In this fragment, the translator omitted the word “board” slightly changing the meaning of

the text. In the translation, Doctor Strange refers to the whole company rather than just its

board. This is significant because it was the board of Timely Pharmaceuticals with the CEO at

the helm that were the antagonists of the whole story arc of the comic.

Keeping that in mind, one needs to consider how the translation of the phrase would look

without the omission: “Takie jak rada nadzorcza Timely Pharmaceuticals?” Retaining “the

board” as “rada nadzorcza” makes the target text significantly longer, and doing so would

require the speech balloon to be expanded in order to contain this phrase. “Rada nadzorcza”

may be shortened to simply “rada”; however, this would make the sentence ambiguous, since

in Polish “rada” may also mean “council”. Thus, omitting the whole phrase, the translator not

only made the sentence more concise, but also avoided causing the reader confusion.

While the above example was straightforward in terms of the reasons for which the

translation technique of omission was used, the example below shows how omission may be

used to solve more complex translation problems.

“How is he? Brenner?”

“As well as you can imagine.”

(Snyder, Murphy 2014a: 9)

“Co z Brennerem?”

“Kiepsko.”

(Snyder, Murphy 2015: 35)

In a truly audiovisual manner, the translator omitted the elements bearing the mark of

redundancy – “As well as you can imagine” – and replaced it with a concise “Kiepsko” –

“Bad”. Such omission would work very well in audiovisual translation, as it conserves space

– instead of 26 characters, 7 are used, and the conveyed message is similar. However, it seems

that the translator did not do it for the purpose of conserving space. The caption box is large

enough to fit at least a 26-character phrase, and a phrase similar to the 17-character “A jak

pani sądzi?” would fit easily. The reason for omitting the phrase and replacing it with another

may have been the difficulty in differentiating who is the speaker of the phrase, since the

whole dialogue is placed in caption boxes, without any indication who asks the question and

who answers. In the conversation there are two female and one male character, whose relation

to each other is professional. In English they refer to each other as “you” (“As well as you can

26

imagine”); however, in Polish, social norms require that they refer to each other by Sir or

Madam. Therefore, when translating “as well as you can imagine” the translator needed to

come up with a phrase that would omit the Sir or Madam element, since it is difficult to say

whether the addressee is male or female.

When talking about omission in comics it is worth mentioning, that since literary

translation is free of restrictions, omission is more used in audiovisual translation in order to

conserve the space in subtitles and time in voice-over or dubbing. On this background, the

translation of comics falls somewhere in between. While omission is used, it is not for the

same strict reasons as in audiovisual translation. It was mentioned before that comics do not

have superfluous text that the translator needs to edit or omit in order to fit a certain character

count. Omission is being conducted out of the need to solve translation problems (for

example, not being sure who is the addressee of an utterance), rather than the necessity to

follow set rules.

27

Conclusions

This thesis attempted to answer the question whether translating comics is closer to literary

or to audiovisual translation. In order to do so, I have selected translation techniques that may

be used in translating both prose and audiovisual texts. The use of techniques in the

translation of literary and audiovisual texts has been juxtaposed with the same translation

techniques being used in the translation of comics.

The first analysed technique was transfer without explanation. This technique is based on

transferring a cultural element from the source text into a target text without translating or

explaining it. This technique requires a well established context so that the reader knows the

general meaning of the element. In literature, this technique requires a significant amount of

work in order to set said context. In audiovisual translation the use of transfer without

explanation is made easier as not only words, but also the image set the context. Therefore,

such transfer need not always be additionally explained, because what is being transferred

may be described by what is visible on the screen. The same happens with the translation of

comics. The context required for the reader to understand the transferred cultural element is

often created solely by the images of the comic book.

The second technique described in this thesis is transfer with explanation. When the

translator decides to transfer a cultural element, but the context around the element is not

sufficient to justify a transfer without explanation, the translator may add an explanation to

the transferred element. Such explanations may take the form of inserts in the text, footnotes

or an afterword from the translator. Since the translation of literature is mostly devoid of

limits in terms of what can be done, all those forms of explanation may be used. It is different

with audiovisual translation. The type of the medium does not allow for footnotes or an

afterword, leaving the translator only with the in-text explanation. However, such explanatory

inserts may significantly expand the target text. With the limitations audiovisual translation

has, an overgrown translation may produce subtitles that are impossible for the viewer to read,

or a dialogue that is too long for dubbing or voice-over. Therefore, even the explanatory

inserts must be as concise as possible. With comics the situation is similar to the translation of

literature. Because comics belong to a print-based medium, their translation does not have the

same limitations as audiovisual translation. Thus, while it is not frequent for comics to have

an afterword from the translator, footnotes are often used to explain the transferred elements.

28

Moreover, despite the fact that comics may seemingly share the limitations in space similar to

audiovisual translation, there are editorial possibilities to expand the space available for the

translation (e.g. expanding the speech balloon). Therefore, it is safe to say that in terms of

transfer with explanation, the translation of comics shares more features with the translation

of literature than with audiovisual translation.

The next technique that was discussed in this thesis was descriptive equivalent – a

technique of substituting the transferred element with its description. When using this

technique, it is important to remember that it may be used for cultural elements that are

referred to only once. While in literary translation it is the sole limit as to the use of this

technique, audiovisual translation also needs to deal with the limitations in the available

space. In terms of the translation of comics, although there are certain limitations in space,

again, they are not as severe as in audiovisual translation. Comics allow for longer

descriptions than subtitles or voice-over, which makes their translation closer to literary

translation rather than to the translation of audiovisual texts.

The last technique described was omission. While omission of cultural elements is not

recommended in either audiovisual or literary translation, it may sometimes happen due to

editorial decisions or the translator having insurmountable problems when translating. In

literary translation omission should not be used, unless it is the only solution to the translation

problem. The situation is different with audiovisual translation, where omission is often used

not for cultural elements, but for elements that are redundant. Such use of this translation

technique allows to save space in subtitles or time in voice-over and dubbing. Although

omission is used also in comics, the reasons for its use are different. A translator of comics

may choose to omit certain elements in order to make space for an explanation, to maintain

the concision of the text, or to solve some translation problems. It is important to remember

however, that in comics there is no superfluous text that needs to be omitted in order to fit the

speech balloon. In the translation of comics, unlike in audiovisual translation, the target text

may use the same amount of space as the source text did, and if that is not sufficient, the

speech balloon may be expanded to fit the target text. Therefore, while omission of redundant

elements is rather a feature of audiovisual translation, when using this technique the

translation of comics again falls closer to literary translation which has close to no limits.

After analysing the examples of translation techniques used in the translation of comics, I

come to the conclusion that in terms of translation techniques, the translation of comics comes

29

closer to literary rather than to audiovisual translation. Both comics and literature are printed,

which gives them certain possibilities that audiovisual translation does not have. Additionally,

comics and literature do not need to follow the limitations that the translation of audiovisual

texts has. However, it is important to remember that the use of translation techniques is only

one aspect of the whole translation process. Thus, while the translation of comics may be

closer to literary translation in the use of translation techniques, the graphic nature of comics

may bring their translation closer to audiovisual translation. These are issues that could not be

covered in this thesis and are a subject for further research.

30

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Streszczenie

Komiks znajduje się pomiędzy literaturą a filmem. Z jednej strony ma on formę książkową

i wykorzystuje tekst pisany, z drugiej jego nieodzowną częścią jest element graficzny, stojący

na równi z elementem pisanym. Dwojakość ta sprawia, iż komiks jest ciekawym tematem

z punktu widzenia przekładoznawstwa.

Celem tej pracy jest próba określenia czy tłumaczenie komiksów bliższe jest przekładowi

literackiemu, czy audiowizualnemu poprzez porównanie sposobu użycia technik

tłumaczeniowych. Odpowiedź na to pytanie umożliwi przyszłym tłumaczom komiksów

właściwy dobór i wykorzystanie dostępnych technik tłumaczeniowych.

Pierwszy rozdział pracy zajmuje się próbą zdefiniowania komiksu, przedstawia jego krótką

historię i zawiera krótkie rozważania na temat natury komiksu i jej wpływu na pracę

tłumacza. Drugi rozdział stanowi podstawę teoretyczną dalszych badań. Opisane zostały w

nim wybrane techniki tłumaczeniowe i sposoby ich użycia w tłumaczeniu audiowizualnym i

przekładzie literatury oraz komiksu. Rozdział trzeci obejmuje analizę zebranych przykładów

użycia opisanych wcześniej technik tłumaczeniowych w przekładzie komiksów. Analiza ta

pozwala na określenie czy z punktu widzenia technik tłumaczeniowych tłumaczenie

komiksów bliższe jest przekładowi literatury czy tekstów audiowizualnych.

Słowa kluczowe

Przekład literatury, przekład audiowizualny, techniki tłumaczeniowe, przekład komiksu

Key words

Literary translation, audiovisual translation, translation techniques, translation of comics