A Multimodal Approach to Translating Chinese Zhuang Folklore
Keywords:
Multimodal Translation, Folklore, Zhuang Ethnic MinorityAbstract
The Zhuang ethnic minority is the largest minority in China. Over its long history, the Zhuang people have developed a rich collection of folklore that is an important component in the preservation of China’s diverse ethnic culture. Although some art forms of Zhuang folklore have been recognized as intangible cultural heritage, their accessibility and appreciation by majority cultures are largely undeveloped due to limited translations of these works. In this paper, we propose a multimodal approach to translating Chinese Zhuang folklore. The article first reviews studies on Zhuang folklore and investigates works of translation. It then proposes a theoretical framework of multimodal discourse analysis as the basis for constructing meanings in the translation of Zhuang folklore. Finally, it examines how translators can mobilize the discourse domains of culture, context, content, and expression in order to produce multimodal translations. The proposal of a multimodal approach to translating Zhuang folklore involves the utilization of different communicative modes, such as verbal, visual, and tactile modes. The goal is to develop an efficient mechanism for translating Zhuang folklore in order to achieve wider transmission and appreciation of Zhuang culture.
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