Multimodal Translations of Contemporary China - A Case Study of 21st-century Drama Film Posters for Festivals - Study in SQ 23 (2022)

Aug 28, 2026

The study explores a corpus of multimodal translations of 21st-century movie posters for globally acclaimed Chinese drama films, focusing on how verbal and visual elements function as paratext for audiences across markets. Visual grammar guides a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis of 66 festival-selected posters from 20 films. Findings show designers employ resemiotisation, recontextualisation and reinterpretation in inter-modal and intra-modal translations to support internationalisation and portray contemporary Chinese society. Results also indicate a need to integrate internationalisation with visual-grammar idiosyncrasy to improve reception in overseas markets.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

MDA and multimodal translation: A focus on posters

A review on movie posters

Yuan Tao Dalian University of Technology Multimodal Translations of Contemporary China. A Case Study of 21st-century Drama Film Posters for Festivals Abstract The aim of this study is to explore a corpus of multimodal translations of 21st-century movie posters for globally acclaimed Chinese drama films. Since all verbal and visual factors contribute as the paratext to attract the audience from different markets at first sight, monomodal analyses of posters are not suitable for the exploration of functional metafunctions. Drawing on visual grammar, and providing both a qualitative and quantitative analysis, the paper analyses 66 posters of 20 drama films which were awarded, nominated or screened on the occasion of international film festivals, where multimodal translations play a crucial role in relation to the transmission of meaning across different countries. Empirical results suggest that designers apply resemiotisation, recontextualisation andreinterpretation in the inter-modal and intra-modal translations for internationalisation purposes and with the scope of providing a portrayal of contemporary Chinese society. Results also suggest that further steps towards the integration of internationalisation and idiosyncrasy in the visual grammar of multimodal translations are necessary for reception issues in overseas markets. 1. Introduction In recent years, considerable literature has grown up around the theme of multimodal translation in film discourse, subtitles, and visual materials as well as taglines and semiotic features in film posters (e.g. Chuang 2006; Laird 2012; Mahlknecht 2015; Mubenga 2009; Rizzo 2020; Taylor 2003; Taylor 2016) . Posters, which function as the threshold and invitation to the movies, are designed to convey the theme to an audience at a glance with both visual and textual messages in images, titles, cast, taglines and commentaries. Multimodal Translations of Contemporary China, SQ 23 (2022) However, far too little attention has been paid to how the visual grammar of posters is systematically constructed to cater to different markets. Without the comprehensive analysis of visual grammar, research carried out on themonomodal analysis of posters would not fully explore the metafunctional realm and the shifts in multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) . Kress and van Leeuwen (1996/2006, 1) observe that all the elements of images, people and places combine to help to construct the meaning, as syntax does in a text. Likewise, Ledin and Machin (2020, 18) state that semiotic choices can“connotate particular ideas about the world”. Therefore, it can be argued that the study of visual grammar applied to the survey of posters is conducive to a comprehensive understanding of designing and marketing strategies. To fill the research gap, drawing upon visual grammar (Kress and van Leeuwen 1996/2006), this study scrutinises 66 posters from 20 globallyacknowledged Chinese drama films1 for China and overseas markets (2000-20) . The primary purpose of this article sets out to explore the visual grammar of the posters, particularly the participants’ relationship with the outside world, the audience and the internal relationship and the shift for audiences in different cultures; second, it aims to investigate the multimodal translation of posters; third, it attempts to explore the factors influencing multimodal translation practices. More specifically, the study strives to address the following research questions: 1) What the visual grammar of Chinese and overseas posters involve; 2) The modalities by means of which poster designers convey messages to overseas audiences by exploiting multimodal translation; 3) The reasons why overseas posters are involved in the multimodal translation shift. To thebestof my knowledge, this represents the first study which shedslight upon the visual and textual composition of posters representing Chinese drama films, which could generate fresh insight into meaning con

FAQs

What is the main objective of the study on movie poster translations?

The study aims to explore the visual grammar of posters and investigate how multimodal translation practices shape meaning for China and overseas audiences.

How many posters and films are analyzed, and what is the selection basis?

The analysis covers 66 posters from 20 Chinese drama films that were awarded, nominated, or screened at international film festivals.

What translation strategies do designers use in multimodal poster translation?

Designers apply resemiotisation, recontextualisation and reinterpretation across inter-modal and intra-modal translations to serve internationalisation purposes.

Aug 28, 2026

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