Visual paratexts in literary translation: Intersemiotic issues in the translation of classical chinese literature

This essay examines the use of visual paratexts such as book illustrations in literary translation. It first considers the nature of visuals as paratexts to verbal texts, and reviews ways of categorizing verbal-visual interactions, such as intersemiotic translation. The essay then examines how these issues relate to an interlingual translation setting. When a literary work is translated into another language, a complex set of intertextual relations is set up between the source and target texts and their respective paratexts, with the whole verbal-visual configuration of the source text being reinterpreted through such factors as selection and physical positioning of illustrations. Two case studies from traditional Chinese literature demonstrate how visual paratexts can be creatively used to bring out new meanings and to connect with the reading experience of the source text reader.