Studying subtitle translation from a multi-modal approach

This paper investigates subtitle translation from a multi-modal approach. Approaching subtitletranslation from a multi-modal perspective is an attempt to consider subtitle translation as in-tersemiotic translation. It suggests that subtitle translation involves more than the spoken mode,but also involves other semiotic modes, such as the mode of sound effects, the mode of movingimages, the mode of music and the written mode. In doing this, this paper takes an approach inwhich the multiplicity of modes in film is represented in the subtitle translation. From a theor-etical point of view, it assumes that all modes are given equally serious attention.From this perspective, this paper focuses on two interrelated areas: (1) how the concept ofmode works in the translating process; that is, how the translator makes use of the specialized Studying subtitle translation from a multi-modal approach 383 meaning of each mode (2) how the translator represents the meaning of the source text throughthe target modes; that is, how the translator organizes the specialized meanings to produce thetarget text designed for the target context.In other words, this paper aims to understand the interrelations of the materiality and therepresentation of subtitle translation, to explore the previously-ignored but significant resourcesin the multiplicity of modes of subtitle translation, and to help to come closer to a satisfactorytheoretical framework to deal with subtitle translation.