Traduction intersémiotique et contexte : des contrats en bande dessinée en tant que documents juridiques accessibles*

Traditionally, legal documents are verbally drafted and formulated especially for and by lawyers to protect their clients in the case of a dispute. However, the signing parties should understand the contents of the documents as well. If they, for example, are unable to do that for some reason, the traditional verbal format of an employment contract becomes problematic. In order to solve the problem, Robert de Rooy, a South African lawyer, developed a comic contract, a visualised format of a contract for a client of his. In my article, I examine how traditional contracts can be translated into comics without losing their value as legally binding documents. The main aim is to discuss, how a traditional employment contract has been translated into visuals, focusing on the issues of the context(s). The analysis will indicate how the main contents of the labour law are transferred into a comic contract following the conventions of the visual language of comics. This leads to a clear, understandable and unambiguous—thus accessible—legal document, which helps the signing parties to understand their rights and duties as employers and employees.