Intersemiotic Retranslation: A Study on the Illustrations of Khayyam’s Quatrains

Abstract

The quatrains of Omar Khayyam were first introduced to the West through the translation of FitzGerald (1859). More than 150 illustrators have re-illustrated these quatrains as long as the translation is printed. This paper aims to test the retranslation hypothesis by examining the illustrations of two different illustrators, Edmund Sullivan (1913) and Niroot Puttapipat (2013) who lived a century apart in Britain. To confirm or reject the retranslation hypothesis more significantly, this article will assess (1) whether the earlier illustrator followed the norms of the target culture or the later (2) how and to what extent we can trace the manipulative power of illustrators during the process of intersemiotic transformation; (3) to what extent the socio-cultural context has an impact on the retranslation strategies of illustrators. This paper concludes that intersemiotic retranslation of a literary work can indicate historical, ideological, social, and cultural changes. The study ultimately serves as another piece of the puzzle for the retranslation hypothesis to approach a theory.