Fluidity of modes in the translation of manga: the case of Kishimoto’s Naruto

Abstract

This article explores the fluidity of modes in manga where the written mode is often treated as a visual and the visual treated as a written entity. The analysis focuses on a particular text, Naruto, by Masashi Kishimoto (2003). In manga, writing is a visual entity and is often governed by the logics of space where position influences value and sequence of reading. This has implications for the relation between onomatopoeia, typography and translation. The authors explore the affordance of writing and image by comparing two English translations of Naruto (a fan translated edition and an official edition). In the fan translation, sound effects conveyed through writing are left untranslated and the reader conjures up the sound from both the context of the situation and the choice of font. The official translation, in contrast, changes sound and layout in order to accommodate the reading practices of the Western audience. This article analyses what is at stake when publishers change the layout of a comics page in the translation from Japanese writing to English, the lettering systems, and the norms and conventions that govern reading path, layout and punctuation.