Abstract:

Within the theoretical framework of “communicator-modality-context”, this study probes into the interactional relationship between viewpoint shifting and pragmatic empathy in multimodal translation through analysis of Tsai Chin Chung’s classic comic book, Zen Speaks, and its two English versions. It is suggested that viewpoint shifting is a pragmatic strategy that can help realize the translator’s intention and influence the empathetic meaning of a text. In other words, through viewpoint shifting the translator can successfully convert the source text into the target text, specifically to readjust the perception focus, to reconstruct the concept of discourse, to reshape the spatial and temporal context, and to rebuild the subject-object relationship. Such a “Si Chong” pragmatic strategy is conducive to weakening or consolidating the object of empathy, strengthening or eliminating the specific meaning of empathy so as to impress the reader positively. The findings of this research are expected to shed light on ‘telling China’s story to the world’ in nowadays ubiquitous multimodal context.

Key words: viewpoint shifting, pragmatic empathy, multimodal pragmatics of translation, translation studies