Intersemiotic translation as adaptation: in memoriam of Laurence Raw

Abstract

Intersemiotic translation' was a term coined by Roman Jakobson, as early as 1959, while he was investigating the complexities of transferring linguistic and cultural elements in translation. Influenced by Peircean semiotics at the time, he claimed that there are three ways one can interpret the verbal sign; ‘it can be translated into other signs of the same language, into another language, or into another, nonverbal system of symbols' (114). He called them respectively intralingual translation or rewording, interlingual translation or translation proper, and intersemiotic translation or transmutation (ibid.). Since the focus of his article lied elsewhere, he did not linger any further on intersemiotic translation, but the term has been quoted heavily ever since across disciplines (see Sütiste), not least because it is quite straightforward. It has been generally understood to mean the transfer of verbal texts into other systems of signification, such as visual, oral, aural, gestural, or kinesic. Obvious cases would be the rendering of literary texts into paintings, ballets, symphonies, theatrical stagings, or cinematic screenings.