Abstract
The intersection of human creativity and machine translation presents distinctive challenges
in metaphor translation within comic books. While extant research has explored various
aspects of translation studies, the cognitive processes and quality outcomes specific to
metaphor translation in multimodal contexts, particularly in Korean manhwa, remain
insufficiently investigated.
This study examines the cognitive dimensions and quality outcomes of metaphor translation
in comic books, comparing traditional human translation with machine translation (MT)
post-editing approaches. The study aims to elucidate the relationship between translation
methodologies, cognitive load, process dynamics, and output quality in the treatment of
metaphorical content within comics.
The methodological framework employed a mixed-methods approach, utilizing
screenrecording software (FlashBack Express) and keystroke logging (Translog-II) to capture
translation processes under two conditions: traditional translation and MT post-editing. The
study recruited professional comic book translators with English as their native language for
Korean-to-English translation. The source material comprised selected sections (1,852
words) from the comic book "꼴 1. 얼굴을 보고 마음을 읽는다" (Appearance 1. Reading a
mind by looking at a person's facial features).
Cognitive effort was quantified through pause analysis, derived from screen-recording and
keystroke logging data. Translation quality was evaluated by comic book reviewers using the
DQF-MQM Error Typology framework. The findings revealed that post-editors demonstrated
significantly shorter pause times compared to translators when processing metaphorical
segments, representing approximately a 40-50% reduction in cognitive effort. Post-editors
also achieved markedly higher productivity rates in terms of keystrokes per minute. Quality
assessment demonstrated that post-edited translations achieved higher median RC scores
compared to traditional translations, with post-edited content showing substantially fewer
accuracy errors. Particularly notable was the superior handling of cultural-specific
metaphors in post-edited versions compared to manual translations. The findings challenge
previous assumptions about machine translation limitations, suggesting that post-editing
can enhance rather than compromise translation quality, even in complex, culturally rich
contexts like comic book translation.
This research constitutes the first systematic examination of metaphor translation processes
in comic books utilizing MT post-editing, contributing to the convergence of cognitive
translation studies and multimodal translation. The findings advance our understanding of
technology's role in creative translation contexts and offer implications for both theoretical
frameworks and professional practice.