Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation

This paper argues that publishers and editors make certain assumptions about the readership of books and manipulate the translation and the readers by exploiting the non-verbal and verbal layout and presentation of paratextual elements. The term 'paratranslation' is used to denote the vari...

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Main Author: Valerie Pellatt
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: ZHAW 2013-07-01
Series:JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
Online Access:https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7563
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author Valerie Pellatt
author_facet Valerie Pellatt
author_sort Valerie Pellatt
collection DOAJ
description This paper argues that publishers and editors make certain assumptions about the readership of books and manipulate the translation and the readers by exploiting the non-verbal and verbal layout and presentation of paratextual elements. The term 'paratranslation' is used to denote the varied manifestations of translated paratext. The examples cited show how a publication is presented very differently to Chinese and non-Chinese readers. The article demonstrates how the domestic and anglophone audiences are targeted, and how a different message is sent across geo-political space. The second part of the paper focuses on one work, a memoir. The book jacket and blurb, the illustrations, the prefaces, postscripts, chapter headings, and the layout differ between the source text and the target text. The reasons for this can only be speculated upon, as there is no explicit justification from the publisher. However, the nature of the differences shows very clearly what motives the editor and/or the publisher may have in mind when creating what appears to be a different book. While in the end the reader reads a similar narrative, he or she is primed by the visual aspects of the publication to expect and receive a different message.
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spelling doaj-art-59093d025ff84e1386736adc0ce0ec972025-08-20T03:16:13ZdeuZHAWJoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation1740-357X2013-07-012010.26034/cm.jostrans.2013.403Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translationValerie PellattThis paper argues that publishers and editors make certain assumptions about the readership of books and manipulate the translation and the readers by exploiting the non-verbal and verbal layout and presentation of paratextual elements. The term 'paratranslation' is used to denote the varied manifestations of translated paratext. The examples cited show how a publication is presented very differently to Chinese and non-Chinese readers. The article demonstrates how the domestic and anglophone audiences are targeted, and how a different message is sent across geo-political space. The second part of the paper focuses on one work, a memoir. The book jacket and blurb, the illustrations, the prefaces, postscripts, chapter headings, and the layout differ between the source text and the target text. The reasons for this can only be speculated upon, as there is no explicit justification from the publisher. However, the nature of the differences shows very clearly what motives the editor and/or the publisher may have in mind when creating what appears to be a different book. While in the end the reader reads a similar narrative, he or she is primed by the visual aspects of the publication to expect and receive a different message.https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7563
spellingShingle Valerie Pellatt
Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation
JoSTrans: The Journal of Specialised Translation
title Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation
title_full Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation
title_fullStr Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation
title_full_unstemmed Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation
title_short Packaging the product: A case study of verbal and non-verbal paratext in Chinese-English translation
title_sort packaging the product a case study of verbal and non verbal paratext in chinese english translation
url https://www.jostrans.org/article/view/7563
work_keys_str_mv AT valeriepellatt packagingtheproductacasestudyofverbalandnonverbalparatextinchineseenglishtranslation