以多模態視角與譯者訪談探析繪本翻譯

Abstract

兒童在成長過程中接觸的繪本多為翻譯作品。然而，繪本帶給兒童的閱讀體驗並不只來自文字。兒童在聆聽故事時，雙眼同時看得見圖像與版面編排，雙耳也聽得見語音、韻律與朗讀效果。這些符號共同建構了繪本中的意義，因此繪本翻譯不能只理解為語際之間的轉換。近年來，翻譯研究逐漸關注繪本的多模態特質，並討論語言轉換與圖文互動等面向。既有研究多以出版後的譯本為分析對象，較少探討譯者如何在實務過程中進行決策。實際上，譯者往往需要在圖像固定、版面限制、朗讀效果、編輯流程與出版規範之間權衡取捨。這些因素會影響譯文的用字與表達，但未必能從最終出版的文字中直接看見。因此，譯者如何思考翻譯策略，以及兒童觀在決策過程中扮演什麼角色，仍有待探討。臺灣繪本市場長期以翻譯作品為大宗，繪本譯本形塑了兒童的早期閱讀經驗，因此也為觀察英譯中繪本翻譯實務提供了重要場域。

本研究以多模態理論、社會符號學以及兒童觀為理論基礎，探討英譯中繪本翻譯如何因應圖像、文字與聲音之間的互動關係。研究以六本繪本為分析語料，重點探析譯者如何處理與圖像連動的慣用語、文字遊戲，以及押韻、節奏、狀聲詞與朗讀效果等特徵。除了文本分析之外，本研究亦進行一場與資深繪本譯者黃筱茵的半結構式訪談，藉此理解譯者的決策思維、兒童觀以及不同翻譯專案中的特定條件。

研究發現，繪本翻譯無法只從文字層面進行評估。翻譯策略並非一套可一體適用於整本繪本的方法，而是需要依照不同跨頁中文字、圖像、版面和聲音之間的配置進行調整。雙語繪本中，原文與譯文並置於同一頁面，讀者能直接對比兩種語言的文字，因此譯文也更容易受到檢視。研究亦發現，譯者並非只依循固定不變的兒童觀，也會主動反思自身兒童觀的侷限。此外，編輯流程、出版規範，以及譯者與編輯之間的協作模式，也會影響譯文最終的呈現方式。

整體而言，繪本翻譯是在圖文關係、聲音效果、出版條件與專業判斷之間不斷協調的翻譯實踐。本研究有助於補足多模態繪本翻譯研究中對翻譯決策過程關注不足之處，並為建立更符合繪本多模態特徵的翻譯評價方式提供參考。

Most picturebooks children grow up reading are translations, yet words are only part of what they encounter. Picturebook translation gives shape to the words children hear, as well as the worlds they see, feel, and imagine. Within translation studies, growing attention has been paid to the multimodal nature of picturebooks. Existing research on picturebook translation has addressed linguistic transfer and visual-verbal relationships. Even so, practice-oriented approaches remain comparatively underdeveloped. This is partly because the reasoning behind translation decisions is not always recoverable from the published text. Multimodal constraints such as fixed illustrations, spatial layout, and read-aloud quality, as well as editorial and publishing conventions, often condition verbal choices without leaving clear traces in the published words themselves. The challenges involved in English-to-Chinese picturebook translation are also underexplored in this respect. Little is known about how translators navigate decision-making processes under such conditions, or about the role of the child image in informing translation strategies. Taiwan provides a pertinent context for this study because translated picturebooks consistently outnumber locally produced titles, placing translation at the centre of many children’s early experiences with books.

Guided by multimodality, social semiotics, and the concept of the child image, this study examines how picturebook translation responds to multimodal challenges. It analyses six picturebooks selected for their use of illustrated idioms, visual puns, layout-dependent meaning-making, rhyme, rhythm, onomatopoeia, and read-aloud effects. This textual analysis is supported by a semi-structured interview with an experienced picturebook translator, Sharon Huang Hsiao-Yin. The interview positions the textual findings within professional practice. This design provides insights into professional reasoning, the influence of the child image, and project-specific production conditions.

The findings establish that picturebook translation cannot be evaluated through verbal text alone. Translation strategies are better understood as spread-specific responses to particular configurations of semiotic resources rather than as consistent choices applied across a whole book. Bilingual picturebooks also create a distinct form of translational accountability. The co-presence of source and target texts changes the conditions under which translation decisions are made and received. The child image emerges not as a fixed interpretive framework applied unreflectively, but as a reflexive dimension of professional reasoning. In this process, assumptions about the child reader may themselves become subject to reflection. Editorial conventions, publishing norms, and translator-editor relationships affect which multimodal solutions reach the published spreads.

This study situates picturebook translation as a mode-specific practice. Meaning does not reside in words alone. It emerges through the interaction of semiotic relationships, publishing conditions, and professional judgement. Translating the genre therefore requires the ability to coordinate verbal choices with visual, auditory, and audience-related considerations. By making this expertise visible, this study contributes to multimodal translation research and supports more attentive approaches to the analysis and evaluation of picturebook translation. In doing so, it brings renewed attention to the role of translation in shaping children’s earliest literary encounters.