Between Images and Words: Ruan Guang-min’s Railway Sonata and its Journey from Chinese to Italian

Abstract

Although overshadowed by the popularity of Japanese manga, Taiwanese comics (or manhua, as they are known in Chinese) are experiencing a true golden age both domestically and abroad, as proven by the numerous international awards received by local artists, as well as the translations of their works into several languages. Ruan Guang-min (1971–) represents a paradigmatic example of how an author whose comics are culture-specific has managed to transcend both geographical (Taiwan) and linguistic (Sinophone) boundaries. After briefly contextualizing the current situation of Taiwanese comics and presenting Ruan and his oeuvre, the contribution analyzes the Italian translation of Railway Sonata, primarily drawing on Klaus Kaindl’s studies on comics translation and Lucía Molina and Amparo Hurtado Albir’s research on the translation of culturemes, or culture-specific elements. More specifically, the article focuses on the rendition of linguistic messages integrated into the images, of elements with strong sociocultural connotations, and of orality. This study reveals that techniques such as repetitio + adiectio were employed for text embedded in images, where the original language and script are preserved in the translation, accompanied by the translator’s notes. Additionally, different strategies were used for culture-specific items. Given the absence of research on Taiwanese manhua and on comics translation from Chinese into Italian, this exploratory study aims at providing a steppingstone for future research in said fields.

Keywords

• Chinese to Italian translation
• comics translation
• Taiwanese manhua
• Ruan Guang-min
• Sinophone graphic novel

References

1. AIE. 2022. “Il mercato del fumetto in Italia.” [The comic book market in Italy.] Accessed October 31, 2023. https://www.aie.it/Portals/_default/Skede/Allegati/Skeda105-8752-2022.5.19/AIE_Torino_2022_Il%20mercato%20del%20fumetto%20in%20Italia_studiericerche.pdf?IDUNI=oqvtjlrmh5rg4uyvbujfkrk27171.
2. Borodo, Michał. 2015. “Multimodality, Translation and Comics.” Perspectives 23 (1): 22–41. doi:10.1080/0907676X.2013.876057.
3. Borodo, Michał. 2023. “Re-Imagining Comics Translation.” In “Reimagining Comics: The Translation and Localization of Visual Narratives,” edited by Michał Borodo. Special Issue, inTRAlinea. https://www.intralinea.org/specials/article/2636.
4. Carreras, María. 2008. La traducción de cómics: Corto Maltés, Lupo Alberto y Dylan Dog en español [The translation of comics: Corto Maltese, Lupo Alberto and Dylan Dog in Spanish]. Roma: Aracne.
5. Castillo Cañellas, Daniel. 1996. “El discurso de los tebeos y su traducción.” [The discourse of comics and their translation.] Paper presented at the Jornadas Internacionales de Traducción e Interpretación de la Universidad de Málaga, April. Accessed December 21, 2024. http://www.tebeosfera.com/1/Documento/Articulo/Academico/01/LimitacionesTraduccion.htm.
6. Celotti, Nadine. 2000. “Méditer sur la traduction des bandes dessinées: une perspective de sémiologie parallèle.” [Meditating on the translation of comics: A perspective of parallel semiology.] Rivista internazionale di tecnica della traduzione, no. 5, 41–61. http://hdl.handle.net/10077/2903.
7. Chen, Ji-Jiang, and Chuko Cheng. 2004. “Yingxiang Taiwan Bentu Manhua Chanchu zhi Xiangguan Yinsu Jiexi.” [Analysis of factors affecting the production of local comics in Taiwan]. In The 9th Design Symposium of the Design Institute of the Republic of China, 885–890. https://class1.dcollege.cyut.edu.tw/~daclab/wood/2004-t03.pdf.
8. Chen, Julia. 2018. “Tales of Taiwan’s Comic Artists: Persecution, Isolation and Endless Talent.” The New Lens. January 25. https://international.thenewslens.com/article/88234.

9. Gao, De’er. 2002. “Cexie Liu Xingqin de Taiwan Fengqing: Manhua, Minsu Hua, Faming.” [Portrait of Taiwan by Liu Hsing-chin: Comics, folk art, invention.] Quan Guo Xin Shu Zixun Yuekan, no. 165, 12–17. https://www.airitilibrary.com/Article/Detail/P20130812006-201209-201308300007-201308300007-12-17.
10. Heisong Bowuguan. n.d. “Taiwan Lao Ganzaidian Huaijiu gushi.” [The nostalgic stories of old Taiwanese grocery stores.] Wushi Niandai Bowuguan. Accessed October 31, 2023. https://rb.gy/30vfgf.
11. Huertas Abril, and Cristina Aranzazu. 2016. “Análisis de los rasgos lingüísticos de Maus y sus interferencias en la traducción al español.” [Analysis of the linguistic features of Maus and their interferences in the translation into Spanish.] TranscUlturAl 8 (2): 23–41. doi:10.21992/T99S5W.
12. Hurtado Albir, Amparo. 2004. Traducción y Traductología: Introducción a la Traductología [Translation and translatology: An introduction to translatology]. Madrid: Cátedra.
13. Kaindl, Klaus. 1999. “Thump, Whizz, Poom: A Framework for the Study of Comics under Translation.” Target 11 (2): 263–288. doi:10.1075/target.ll.2.05kai.
14. Kaindl, Klaus. 2004. “Multimodality in the Translation of Humour in Comics.” In Perspectives on Multimodality, edited by Eija Ventola, Cassily Charles, and Martin Kaltenbacher, 173–192. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
15. Kaindl, Klaus. 2010. “Comics in Translation.” In Handbook of Translation Studies: Volume 1, edited by Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer, 36–40. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
16. Khalil, Lamia. 2018. “Bandes dessinées: Le double défi de la langue et de la culture.” [Comics: The dual challenge of language and culture.] Traduire, no. 239, 87–94. doi:10.4000/traduire.1586.
17. Lee, I-yun. 2018. “Taiwan Dazhong Wenhua zhong Chengxian de Lishi Renshi: Yi Manhua wei Zhongxin (1945-1990).” [Historical understanding in Taiwanese popular culture: Focus on comics (1945-1990).] Si yu Yan 56 (3): 7–73. https://www.airitilibrary.com/Article/Detail/02588412-201809-202002170008-202002170008-7-73.
18. Lent, John A. 1995. “Comics in East Asian Countries: A Contemporary Survey.” International Journal of Popular Culture 29 (1): 185–198. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.1995.2901_185.x.
19. Lent, John A. 1999. Pulp Demons: International Dimensions of the Postwar Anti-Comics Campaign. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press.
20. Lent, John A. 2015. Asian Comics. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.
21. Lin, Pei-yin. 2015. “Language, Culture, and Identity: Romanization in Taiwan and Its Implications.” Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies 12 (2): 191–233. doi:10.6163/tjeas.2015.12(2)191.
22. Macedoni, Anna. 2010. “L’italiano tradotto dei fumetti americani: un’analisi linguistica.” [The Italian translation of American comics: A linguistic analysis.] Rivista internazionale di tecnica della traduzione, no. 12, 93–102. http://hdl.handle.net/10077/8162.
23. MAE, Ministry of Economic Affairs. 1992. Zhuzuo quanfa [Copyright Law]. https://topic.tipo.gov.tw/copyright-tw/cp-415-855920-95b39-301.html.
24. Molina, Lucía. 2001. “Análisis Descriptivo de la Traducción de los Culturemas Árabe-Español.” [Descriptive analysis of the translation of Arabic-Spanish culturemes.] PhD diss., Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/5263/lmm1de1.pdf?seque.
25. Molina, Lucía, and Amparo Hurtado Albir. 2002. “Translation Techniques Revisited: A Dynamic and Functionalist Approach.” Méta 47 (4): 498–512. doi:10.7202/008033ar.
26. Ocean. 2006. “Taiwan cubiyu ‘gan’ de chubu fenxi.” [Preliminary analysis of the vulgar term ‘gan’ in Taiwan.] Pixnet. Accessed October 31, 2023. https://areca.pixnet.net/blog/post/19790219.
27. Osimo, Bruno. 2004. Manuale del Traduttore: Guida Pratica con Glossario [Translator’s handbook: Practical guide with glossary]. Milano: Hoepli.
28. Paolinelli, Mario, and Eleonora Di Fortunato. 2005. Tradurre per il Doppiaggio: La Trasposizione Linguistica dell’Audiovisivo [Translating for dubbing: The linguistic transposition of audiovisual media]. Milano: Hoepli.
29. Pesaro, Nicoletta, ed. 2023. La Traduzione del Cinese: Riflessioni, Strategie e Tipologie Testuali [The translation of Chinese: Reflections, strategies, and text types]. Milano: Hoepli.
30. Pozzi, Silvia. 2022. Il Carattere e la Lettera: Tradurre dal Cinese all’Italiano [The character and the letter: Translating from Chinese to Italian]. Milano: Hoepli.
31. Rodríguez, Paco. 2019. “Traducción, Traductología e Historieta: Una Mirada Panorámica.” [Translation, translatology, and comics: An overview.] In La Traducción del Cómic [The translation of comics], edited by Francisco Rodríguez Rodríguez and Sergio España Pérez, 10–49. Sevilla: ACyT Ediciones.
32. Rovira-Esteva, Sara. 2018. “La Transcripción del Chino.” [The transcription of Chinese.] In Guía de Estilo para el Uso de Palabras de Origen Chino [Style guide for the use of Chinese-origin words], edited by Helena Casas-Tost and Sara Rovira-Esteva, 16–21. Madrid: Adeli Ediciones.
33. Ruan, Guang-min. 2017. Tiedao Zoumingqu [Railway Sonata]. Taipei: Yuan-Liou.
34. Ruan, Guang-min. 2023. Railway Sonata – Sinfonia Ferroviaria. Translated by Antonio Paoliello. Milan: Toshokan.
35. Tebeosfera. 2022. Tebeográficas: Procedencias de 2022 [Tebeographic: Origins of 2022]. Accessed October 30, 2023. https://www.tebeosfera.com/desglose/procedencias/2022/.
36. Titford, Christopher. 1982. “Sub-Titling: Constrained Translation.” Lebende Sprachen 27 (3): 113–16. doi:10.4236/oalib.1104579.
37. Valero Garcés, Carmen. 2000. “La Traducción del Cómic: Retos, Estrategias y Resultados.” [The translation of comics: Challenges, strategies, and results.] Trans: Revista de Traductología, no. 4, 75–88. doi:10.24310/TRANS.2000.v0i4.2518.
38. Villena Álvarez, Ignacio. 1999. “Peculiaridades de la Traducción Subordinada de Cómic.” [Peculiarities of the subordinated translation of comics.] In Lengua y Cultura: Estudios en Torno a la Traducción [Language and culture: Studies around translation], edited by Miguel Ángel Vega Cernuda and Rafael Martín-Gaitero, 509–514. Vol. II of the Proceedings of the VII Encuentros Complutenses en Torno a la Traducción. Madrid: IULMyT.
39. Wang, Nan. 2019. “Qinshu chengweici de aocheng yongfa ji cidian shiyi.” [The proud usage of kinship terms and their dictionary definitions.] Cishu yanjiu, no. 1, 29–36. http://ling.cass.cn/aboutus/zuzhijigou/xhzdbjs/kycx/202112/t20211211_5381023.html.
40. Wang, Wanjia. 2010. “Tai man zai qi! Taiwan manhua de geming xin jiyuan.” [Taiwan comics rise again! A revolutionary new era for Taiwanese comics.] Taiwan Panorama 12. https://tinyurl.com/3hxby2wx.
41. Weng, Ji’an. 2020. “Chule Zheng Wen, zhexie manhua ye hen lihai – 1990 niandai de Taiwan manhua.” [Besides Chen Uen, these comics are also great: Taiwanese comics of the 1990s]. Paper Books. May 1. https://tinyurl.com/5yaw2d93.
42. Wu, Tingwei. 2016. “Taiwan manhua chanye de kunjing: 90 niandai ceng yangming guoji de bentu manhua Young Guns weihe moluo?” [The dilemma of the Taiwanese comics industry: Why did the internationally renowned local comic ‘Young Guns’ decline in the 1990s?] The New Lens. May 3. https://www.thenewslens.com/article/37503/fullpage.
43. Yang, Chunli. 2010. “Translation of English and Chinese Addressing Terms from the Cultural Aspect.” Journal of Language Teaching & Research 1 (5): 738–742. doi:10.4304/jltr.1.5.738-742.
44. Zanettin, Federico. 1998. “Fumetti e traduzione multimediale: tra codice verbale e codice visivo.” [Comics and multimedia translation: Between verbal code and visual code.] inTRAlinea 1. https://www.intralinea.org/print/article/1622.
45. Zanettin, Federico, ed. 2008a. Comics in Translation. London: Routledge.
46. Zanettin, Federico. 2008b. “Comics in Translation: An Overview.” In Comics in Translation, edited by Federico Zanettin, 1–32. London: Routledge.