Multimodal world construals in English translations of Hongloumeng: a cognitive stylistic and systemic functional linguistic analysis

Minru Zhao and Dechao Li ()
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Minru Zhao: Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Dechao Li: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Palgrave Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Text world, a key concept in Text World Theory, refers to the mental representation discourse creates in the reader’s mind. The way readers conceive or interpret the text world is known as world construal. Hongloumeng, the classic Chinese novel, is well-known for its realistic representation of a text world. However, the novel in English (target text or TT) may offer a different construal of the world compared with that in Chinese (source text or ST). This study examines two English translations of the novel, exploring to what extent they offered different world construals, how the translators employed verbal elements to shape readers’ conceptualizations of the text world, and how the editors and publishers employed visual elements to facilitate these conceptualizations. The research proposes a multimodal framework for analyzing the texts and cover designs of the translations by David Hawkes, Xianyi Yang, and Gladys Yang. The analysis suggests that these translations offer different construals of the text world, potentially bringing different emotional experiences to target readers. This article offers insight into how verbal and visual elements in a translation work together to facilitate mental representation of the text world. Furthermore, the integration of Text World Theory with models of cognitive stylistics and Systemic Functional Linguistics provides an effective framework for analyzing multimodal world construals in translation.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05504-5

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