Morpheus: from Text to Images. Intersemiotic Translation

Every type of reality belongs to the semiotic realm and this means that every being is in constant need of translation and interpretation. What we mostly translate are signs and that is why this book envisages interpreting the morphotic nature of signs. In spite of Roman Jakobson having outlined the impossibility of full equivalence between code-units, the same theoretician admitted to paraphrasing the source message. In Eugene Nida’s terminology, this approximate translatability is achievable with the help of dynamic equivalence, in which quality should be the winner. One of the panaceas in the case of linguistic and cultural untranslatability is intersemiotic translation, which is able to transgress the limitations of various codes.
Changing the point of view in approaching Translation Studies coincides with addressing transdisciplinarity and trans-adaptation. Medium-restricted communication should be challenged and overcome in a globalized and glocalized era.
The present study tries to apply the trans- paradigm to Translation Studies. The approach relies also on developments in cultural and mentality frames, with the purpose of verifying the reliability of new equivalences in interpreting messages. Besides dwelling upon ekphrastic reflections of famous texts, I also found necessary to consider the translational dispositions of generations and groups in recent history: Baby Boomers, GenXers, Generation Y, Generation Z, Generation C, yuppies, hipsters, metrosexuals and lumbersexuals.