This study explores the intersection of Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996) visual grammar and reader perceptions of the covers of Chinese-translated books, revealing both the complexity of reader perceptions and the explanatory powers of visual grammar in this under-researched context. The research firstly applies visual grammar to semiotically analyze ten covers of Chinese émigré literature translated from English to Chinese and subsequently investigates, via questionnaires, how sixty-five Chinese readers interpret key semiotic elements on the covers. Results from the semiotic analyzes and questionnaires confirm the utility of visual grammar in predicting reader interactions with translation book covers, particularly in terms of the represented dynamism as achieved within the ideational metafunction. However, misalignment between predictions and actual reader perceptions is revealed in terms of the social distance between human figures and viewers by an interpersonal metafunction analysis. Visual grammar proves less efficacious in predicting reader interactions than in determining how readers understand the representations on covers. The study discusses implications of these findings for applying visual grammar to multimodal translation and for designing effective translation book covers, advocating for designs that are both appealing and ethically inclusive of the translator’s name. This research sets the stage for further studies involving controlled semiotic variables and broader engagement with the design and reader communities.

The English translation of the Chinese classic comic Chan Shuo 禪說 has garnered significant attention as a vital medium for introducing Chinese Chan Buddhism to English readers. This study investigates the representational meaning that emerges through the comic translation of Chan Shuo. In a digital humanities (DH) approach, the study first creates a self-built database of bilingual texts and images of Chan Master and then utilizes two tools developed at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM CorpusTool and ImageTool, to annotate the database systematically, culminating in an analysis of the multimodal representational realizations of Chan Master. Based on the analytical framework combining visual grammar and visual narrative, it scrutinizes the participants, processes, and circumstances through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Moreover, it seeks to explore the multimodal translation methods to adapt Chan story for contemporary readers by examining the representation of Chan Master’s image through the text- image interplay. The findings indicate that such a multimodal translation adeptly conveys the inclusiveness and dynamism of the Chan Master, effectively transmitting core concepts of Chan Buddhism to the English- speaking world.

This article provides a thorough review of constraints in translation studies. It analyzes existing literature to assess whether constraints positively or negatively impact translators. Drawing on studies of translation constraints, it proposes an ecosystemic perspective, viewing constraints as transversal elements within translation ecosystems that manifest differently according to given environments and organisms. We propose an abstracted constraint prioritization procedure aimed at harnessing affordance perception, a skill that learners, scholars, and practitioners might find beneficial. The article concludes by providing an ecosystemic map of these forces, and it brings to the surface the importance of establishing clear vantage points to create ecologically valid abstractions, underscoring that constraints lead translators to perceive affordances. This ecological and affordance-based perspective aims to enable learners and practitioners to better incorporate the “constraint concept” in their work and connect the scholarly and professional communities. One such area of connection is translator’s posture, centered on how translators occupy a position in the environments forming their domains of practice, be they textual, professional, or social.