A social semiotic multimodal analysis of ateji translation in manga

Abstract

Ateji (当て字) pertains to one of the unique uses of language in the manga that is constructed with two types of Japanese scripts. Its one-of-a-kind structure presents challenges in translation, but feasible solutions have hardly been explored. Drawing on ateji categories, social semiotic multimodal approach and translation procedures, this study performs qualitative content analysis to identify practical ways to reconstruct the closest meaning of ateji. It finds that most of the adopted translation procedures reflect partial meaning transformations because of the target language’s lack of semiotic resources that can be used to convey ateji’s complex meanings. Nevertheless, translations published in the 2010s have shown that a smaller font size–the semiotic resource of the typography mode–is used in glosses to produce the closest meaning transformation of ateji into the target text. This finding has also revealed that writing and typography are effective modes of ateji translation.