Paratranslation of the couple text/image: mutilation and manipulation of linguistic and visual paratexts

Abstract

In this new digital era, texts and paratexts share their importance with a new intertextual environment, where we can find many references from other media. If text and image are an inseparable couple, translators will have to work with both codes in order to culturally adapt the product for a new market. It’s rather usual to find these kinds of texts in comics, but the audio¬visual industry is also starting to work with texts as a visual metaphoric element that should be adapted when translating to a new language, but it is possible that translators do not have the necessary tools to adapt such paratexts adequately. In this paper, we will study the relationship between text and image, as well as the intertextual needs of different audiovisual products that are being released nowadays. Thereafter, we will study the case of the Scott Pilgrim series, as it is an excellent example of intertextuality and the relationship between text and image.