A Multimodal Analysis of the Arabic-English Translation of Selected Juha Animated Tales

Document Type : Original Article

Author

English Department, Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication, Cairo- Egypt

Abstract

Meaning-making is no longer viewed as a matter of words. In the modern world of digital communication technology, images, colors, and fonts speak louder than words. Animated folktales are rich multimodal texts that help nations preserve their heritage. Hundreds of folk stories from different cultures can be found through a simple internet search. This study analyzes the English translations of tales for the famous Arab folk figure Juha according to Kress and van Leeuwen’s multimodal approach (2006), and Borodo’s meaning loss/gain concept in translation analysis (2015). The results reveal that due to the transformations in the visual elements, the English translations of the tales shape a culture that is distinct from the one presented by the Arabic texts. The findings show that although its main function is to enhance communication among diverse cultures, translation in this digital era can threaten cultural identities. Therefore, further digital efforts to preserve and revitalize the Arab culture are highly required.

Keywords

Cairo Studies in English
Volume 2022, Issue 2
December 2022
Pages 86-97

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