Museum Text Translation through Multimodal Discourse Analysis: A Case Study of the Wooden Screen at Guangzhou Museum

Abstract

With the increasing prominence of multimodality in museum exhibitions, museum text translation is no longer simply an interlingual transformation but rather a complex process involving multiple semiotic resources and modalities. However, museum translation practice has yet to fully respond to the new trend, and previous studies have largely followed a monomodal, language-oriented paradigm centered on source–target equivalence, while scholarly engagement with multimodal discourse analysis in museum translation remains scarce. Against this background, this study aims to investigate the multimodal dimensions that shape museum text translation by drawing on the five-layered analytical framework proposed by Zhang Delu in his Synthetic Framework for Multimodal Discourse Analysis. This study selects a carved wooden screen at the entrance of a permanent exhibition in Guangzhou Museum (China) as the single case for qualitative analysis. The findings demonstrate that museum text translation is not solely a linguistic act but a multimodally situated practice shaped by layered semiotic dimensions: cultural narratives, semantic choices, visual conventions, spatial constraints, and material affordances. This study carries significant theoretical implications in that it bridges multimodal discourse analysis and translation studies, advancing their integration and offering a structured lens for examining museum text translation within multimodal environments. On a practical level, the findings inform curators and designers working to enhance intercultural accessibility and coherence in multimodal museums. 

References

Bahrudin, H., & Bakar, K. A. (2022). Dissent by Design: A Multimodal Study of 2019 Women's March MY Protest Signs. Theory & Practice in Language Studies (TPLS), 12(6), 1076-1086. https:// doi. org/10. 17507/tpls. 1206.07

El Muarrifa, Z. (2016). Translation Errors and the Strategies to Overcome them: A Case Study of Captions of Museum Displays in Yogyakarta. Lexicon, 4(2), 90-101. https://doi.org/10.22146/lexicon.v4i2.421 45

El-Sharif, A. (2023). How binding and bonding communicate interpersonal meanings in a children’s museum to address Jordan’s energy and water challenges. Semiotica, 2023(250), 43-66. https://doi.or g/10.1 515/sem-2022-0019

Jewitt, C., Bezemer, J., & O'Halloran, K. (2016). Introducing multimodality. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4 324/9781315638027

Johnstone, E., Liao, M.H., & Strani, K. (2024). How does it feel? Space and text as affective affordances in the multimodal museum. Multimodality & Society, 4(3), 314–329. https://doi.org/10.1177/26349795 241270437

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Multimodal Discourse: The Modes and Media of Contemporary Communication. London: Arnold. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404504221054

Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design(2nd ed.). Routledge: London, UK. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003099857

Li, F. (2009). Strategies for Translating Chinese Museum Interpretation Texts into English [in Chinese]. Chinese Translators Journal, 30(3), 74-77. China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).

Liao, M. H. (2018). Museums and creative industries: The contribution of Translation Studies. The Journal     of Specialised Translation, (29), 45-62. http://www.jostrans.org/issue29/artliao.php

Liao, M.H. (2019). Translating multimodal texts in space: A case study of St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art. Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series: Themes in Translation Studies, 17, 84–98. https://doi.org/ 10.52034/ lanstts.v17i0.475

Liao, M.H. (2023). Translation as a practice of resemiotization: A case study of the Opium War Museum. Translation Studies, 16(1), 48–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/14781700.2022.2103024

Liu, G.L. (2018). A multimodal analysis of the trans-editing of museum texts [in Chinese]. East Journal of Translation, 6, 26–33. China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).

Martinec, R., & Salway, A. (2005). A system for image-text relations in new (and old) media. Visual Communication, 4(3), 337–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357205055928

Randaccio, M. (2018). Museum Audio Description: Multimodal and “Multisensory” Translation: A Case Study from the British Museum. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 6(6), 285-297. https:// doi.org/1 0.13189/lls.20 18.060604

Neather, R. (2008). Translating tea: On the semiotics of interlingual practice in the Hong Kong Museum of Teaware. Meta, 53(1), 218–240. https://doi.org/10.7202/017984ar

Neather, R. (2012a). Non-Expert Translators in a Professional Community: Identity, Anxiety and Perceptions of Translator Expertise in the Chinese Museum Community. The Translator, 18(2), 245–268. https://doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2012.10799510

Neather, R. (2012b). Intertextuality, translation, and the semiotics of museum presentation: The case of bilingual texts in Chinese museums. Semiotica, 2012(192), 197–218. https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2012-0082

Neather, R. (2024). Translating for Museums, Galleries and Heritage Sites. Taylor & Francis: London, UK.  https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203702505

O’Halloran, K.L., & Smith, B. (2011). Multimodal Studies: Exploring Issues and Domains. Routledge: London, UK. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203828847

Pan, L., Wu, X., Luo, T., & Qian, H. (2023). Multimodality in Translation Studies: Media, Models, and Trends in China. Taylor & Francis: London, UK. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032650975

Turnbull, J.A. (2018). Museum communication: the role of translation in disseminating culture. Token: A Journal of English Linguistics, 7, 193–217. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-537452

Wan Abdul Halim, W. F. S., Zainudin, I. S., & Mohd Nor, N. F. (2022). Multimodal Communicative Acts of Thailand’s Private Hospital Website Promoting Medical Tourism. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 22(2). http://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2022-2202-05

Xu, X.Y. & Mo, F.F. (2021). Theory and practice of museum texts translation from a multimodal perspective-A Case Study on Anji Branch of Zhejiang Museum of Natural History [in Chinese]. Research of Natural History and Museum, 6, 107–116. China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).

Yu Z., & Hirzel T. (2022). Museum text translation in the Chinese context: the museum role and text production. Museum Management and Curatorship, 39(2), 188–202. https://doi.org/10.1080/096477 75. 2022.2132992

Yu, Z., Mansor, S., & Enh, A. M. (2024). The Reasons and Influence of the Establishment of One Port Trade System in Guangzhou during Qing Dynasty. e-Bangi: Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 21(1), 265-272. https://doi.org/10.17576 /ebangi.2024.2101.23

Zhang, D.L. (2018). A Systemic-Functional Synthetic Framework for Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Modern Foreign Languages, 41(6), 731–743. https://caod.oriprobe.com/articles/55155842/A_ Systemic_ Functional Synthetic_Framework_for_Multimodal_Discourse_Analysis.htm

Zhang, M., & Feng, D.W. (eds.). (2021). Multimodal Approaches to Chinese-English Translation and Interpreting. Routledge: London, UK. https://doi.org/10. 1080/23306343.2022.2096763

Zhang, Y. (2021). Errors in and suggestions for English translation of museum texts of cultural relics [in Chinese]. Identification and Appreciation to Cultural Relics, 18, 142–144. China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).

Zuo, L., & Zainudin, I. S. (2025). Evaluating English Translations of Chinese Cuisine Names: A Case Study of Bilingual Menus of Hotels in Chengdu City. e-Bangi: Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 22(1). https:// doi.org/ 10.17576/ ebangi. 2025.2201.07