Translating the Visual. The Importance of Visual Elements in the Translation of Advertising across Cultures

Under the traditional approach to translation, pictures and graphic layout are considered to be external to the translator’s realm. This paper suggests the possibility of an alternative approach to the translation of (print) advertisements, under which the verbal and the visual appear intrinsically linked: the text appears as a semiotic whole, where every sign is there for the translator to use. Three examples confirm this interpretation, displaying the semiotic complexity of apparently referential pictures and showing how graphic layouts and pictures may be adapted across cultures. They also help disprove several stereotypes about the nature of the visual code as opposed to verbal language, such as the priority of the verbal over the visual, the immediacy of visual signs and the truthfulness of pictures, thus providing grounds for a more comprehensive view of the text and a more active use of visual elements by translators.