From Intersemiotic Translation to Intersemiotic Aspects of Translation

The paper outlines a distinction between several allied notions related to intersemioticity, polysemioticity and translation, with examples pertaining to the indicated categories. It begins with an overview of how Roman Jakobson’s concept of intersemiotic translation has been re-interpreted and broadened to account for more types of transformations and for new modes of expression. Secondly, the non-identity of referentiality and transmutation is indicated. Next, the notion of intersemiotic complementation is proposed for instances that involve adding a new code to an existing work, rather than changing its code. A distinction is also drawn between intersemiotic translation and intersemiotic aspects or contexts of interlingual translation (of a polysemiotic work or of a verbal text which refers to non-discursive media). It is emphasized that it is this last category that deserves the attention of translation scholars, and some particular areas of interest are enumerated.