Interartefactual translation

Abstract

From a metrolingual point of view—with its focus on language, space and the city—translation happens at many social interfaces and in various translation zones. In this chapter, we explore processes of resemiotization, in which meaning is reconfigured across not only linguistic boundaries but also wider semiotic and artefactual spaces. Resemiotization as a form of translation occurs between various semiotic modalities, such as spoken and written text versions, or between designs and their instantiation. Within this perspective, interartefactual translation, which we propose in this chapter, refers to the processes by which artefacts change their meanings in relation to other objects within semiotic assemblages in which human and language play mediating roles. By examining data from a small store in Tokyo and discussing interartefactual translation from a metrolingual perspective, we show how meaning is reworked across assemblages of people, objects, spaces and languages. We argue that thinking of translation in these interartefactual terms opens up a space for study beyond languages and people in interaction towards an entangled world of people, languages, things and places.