Interpreting translated adverts : a multi-modal approach

Abstract EN

The multi-modal nature of advertising creates challenges when translating from one language and culture to another especially as the audience will interpret both any text/speech, supporting imagery and the wider context presented by the advert.

This study looks at how an advert originally designed for an audience in the Middle East has been translated for an English speaking audience and considers how such an audience will understand both the words and imagery.

The rendition into the target language is effective but that the overall advert fails as the scenario presented was not plausible to an Englishspeaking target audience.

This process of interpretation not just of the individual semiotic modes but also how they combine and the overall context is important as it presents a significant challenge when translating advertising.

In effect, the context used by the recipient to understand an advert needs to be taken into account when adverts are translated into another language.

Thus resemiosis (how the target audience uses their expectations and makes an interpretation) is an important characteristic and one that is easy to underplay in the translation process.