Multimodality and the Arts: Creative and Performative Processes as Intersemiotic Translation

Researchers, translators, practitioners and artists join voices in this volume to explore the profound relationship between multimodality and translation. Looking at the subject from a wide range of perspectives, this book questions the possibility of redefining art practices and artworks as forms and processes of intersemiotic translation.
Exploring the connection between multimodality, translation and the arts, the authors uncover the many overlooked practices of translation which are already inherent in artistic research and in the production of multimodal artworks and texts. In the process, they demystify the notion of multimodality as a matter of artistic inquiry only, examining the processes of embodied, collaborative, kinetic, material, and intersemiotic translation which artists have always undertaken within their work.
The book is divided into four distinct yet interrelated sections. Part One explores multimodality as a key notion to re-conceptualise translation in the arts, encompassing poetry, site-specific performance, and creative cuisine. Part Two is dedicated to translation, music and sound, while in Part Three, the connection between dance, embodied practices, and translation is investigated and presented through non-conventional essays which are themselves multimodal texts. Finally, Part Four contains the transcripts of conversations between artists and scholars in which artists explore, explain and unravel the relationship between their creative process and the process of translation, offering unique practical and experiential insights into the subject. The strong focus on the performative arts gives the book an interdisciplinary perspective at the interface of language and art.

• Publication date: 17 September 2026
• Page count: 288
• Dimensions: Height 236 mm; Width 156 mm; Thickness 20 mm
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: Hardback
• ISBN-13: 9781350526150