A social semiotic multimodal approach to translation

This chapter introduces a Social Semiotic perspective on translation. It starts by presenting key tenets of Social Semiotics, the approach that first theorized the concept of multimodality. Then it discusses the relation between multimodality and translation, as well as the challenges faced by Translation Studies and practice in the contemporary semiotic landscape. It finally introduces key Social Semiotic concepts and frames them as dimensions of translation, conceived as a process of resemiotization at the intersections between modes, media, genres, domains, semiotic spaces and discourses. The Social Semiotic approach sketched in the chapter provides a perspective on sign- and meaning-making that can be useful in re-framing translation in its scope, possibilities and applications.