Representing cultures through language and image: a multimodal approach to translations of the Chinese classic<i>Mulan</i>

Abstract

Mulan, a Chinese maiden who impersonates a man and takes her father’s place in a war against a fictitious Hun invasion, is not only an important classic in Chinese literature but has also become a significant cultural text in the West through adaptations and translations. This paper investigates different verbal and visual translations of Mulan in picture books. The study employs theories of multimodal discourse analysis and Jakobson’s concept of intersemiotic translation as the theoretical basis for analysis and discussion. The data under examination include two bilingual picture books: Song of Mulan (2010) and Mulan (2012). First, I conducted a textual analysis of the Chinese texts and their English translations; then, the visual materials in picture books were examined; the final discussion explores the intersemiotic translation between the verbal and visual materials. I conclude that through verbal translation and visual adaptation, Mulan has been culturally transformed from a legendary Chinese heroine into a hybrid Americanized tomboy with great popularity in the global market.