Comics in Translation

This encyclopedia entry provides a state-of-the-art overview of comics in translation. It briefly illustrates the development and present state of the comics industry in the world, then moves on to consider the procedures and processed involved in the translation of comics. A large number of all comics published in the world have traditionally been translated American comics, a situation which led to American comics conventions merging with and shaping local traditions of “visual story-telling” as they brought with them a set of genres, themes and narrative devices, as well as a repertoire of signs. Japanese comics are now increasingly replacing American comics as a source of inspiration for Western authors. The publication of a comic in translation typically involves securing reproduction rights from a foreign publisher, acquiring the films or files from the original publisher, and ‘adapting’ the product for the local readership. Computers and the Internet have not only changed the way many comics are now produced and distributed, but have also changed translation practices. The translation of comics has been regarded as a type of ‘constrained translation’, but the translation of comics may also be investigated within a localization framework, understood in its broadest sense as the adaptation and updating of visual and verbal signs for a target locale. In addition to the translator ‘proper’, different actors are involved in the process, and the work of the ‘translator’ is considered in relation to the general context and workflow.