Creating Characters in Multimodal Narration : Comics and Picturebooks in the Hands of the Translator

Comics and picturebooks are multimodal forms of artistic expression communicating through the combination of the modes of the verbal, the visual and the aural. Comics and picturebooks are not far removed from each other: they both include not only images and written texts but also verbal and visual characterisation such as sound effects, speech bubbles, bodily gestures, postures and facial expressions, all of which reinforce the joint effect of the words and images. The aural mode is triggered during the reading process: while picturebooks are often read aloud, the illusion of aurality in comics is created in a more subtle way. Through these different modes, the reader experiences the joint narration of the verbal, the visual and the aural. This process makes the reader believe in and get an understanding of the characters and their background. In our article, we examine how characters are built and situated in time, place and culture. In this way, the overall multimodal effect of visual and verbal language makes the reader complete the gaps in narration. We illustrate this phenomenon using Risto Isomäki, Petri Tolppanen and Jussi Kaakinen’s graphic novel Sarasvatin hiekkaa (2008, The Sands of Sarasvati, 2013) and Elena Agnello and Adrie Le Roux’s picturebook I am Alex (2016, Minä olen Alex, 2016).