In the evolving landscape of literary translation, the role of visual elements in book cover design has emerged as a pivotal factor in shaping readers’ perceptions and engagements with translated texts. A recent study, examining two English translations of the seminal Chinese classic Hongloumeng, illuminates how differing visual strategies employed by editors and publishers profoundly affect readers’ conceptualization of the text world. This analysis goes beyond mere aesthetic preferences, diving into the cognitive and semiotic mechanisms at play in these multimodal covers, underscoring the transformative power of design in literary mediation.
At the heart of this study are two translations, referred to as TT1 and TT2, each presenting a distinct visual narrative through their cover art. TT1’s cover foregrounds a female character, depicted with striking immediacy and detail, inviting readers into a close, intimate encounter. In contrast, TT2 embraces a panoramic vista, positioning characters amidst a grand mansion background, characterized by distance and schematic illustration. These divergent approaches not only represent differing artistic choices but also articulate contrasting cognitive styles through which readers are invited to enter the text world.
The perspective in cover design emerges as a critical factor in engaging readers’ attention and emotional involvement. TT1’s use of a frontal angle focuses the reader’s gaze directly onto the character, who returns this gaze through a direct, confrontational eye contact. This technique, grounded in the visual grammar articulated by Kress and van Leeuwen, is known to heighten involvement by simulating a form of personal address. By contrast, TT2’s oblique angle presents the characters as part of a larger, impersonal tableau, allowing the reader an observational and detached standpoint. This perspective effectively constructs a psychological distance, framing the reader as an outside observer rather than an in-scene participant.
Beyond perspective, the spatial scope depicted on the covers conveys differing levels of narrative intimacy and immersion. TT1 utilizes a close distance frame that captures not only the character’s visage but also minute details of her surroundings, including the delicate interplay of light and fabric folds. Such close-up scope activates the reader’s embodied cognition, enabling them to perceive fine-grained emotional signals and environmental cues. Conversely, TT2 opts for a maximal scope, presenting the setting and characters from afar. The enlarged field of view offers a comprehensive but generalized view of the scene, which distances the reader from the narrative’s emotional core, encouraging an analytical rather than immersive mode of engagement.
Specificity in visual representation further delineates these contrasting reader experiences. The TT1 cover’s high articulation of detail—with meticulous attention to facial expressions, textures, and nuanced color modulation—crafts a realistic and tactile world that readers can inhabit imaginatively. Such specificity enhances the illusion of presence and continuity, vital factors in cognitive immersion. Conversely, TT2’s abstract and schematic approach, characterized by low-detail figures and unmodulated colors, diminishes the richness of sensory detail, producing a more generalized, conceptual framing of the text. This abstraction serves to distance the reader from the affective realities of the narrative.
Crucially, these design choices influence readers’ narrative positioning within the text world. TT1’s intimate visual framing encourages an intradiegetic perspective, positioning readers alongside the protagonist as active participants within the narrative universe. This close identification fosters empathy and emotional resonance. TT2, however, externalizes readers as extradiegetic observers, maintaining a critical and evaluative stance removed from subjective immersion. Such positioning has profound implications for how readers process narrative information and construct meaning.
The cognitive underpinnings of these visual strategies can be understood through the lens of multimodal discourse analysis, which examines how modalities such as image and text interact to create meaning. By manipulating gaze, angle, scope, and specificity, the covers orchestrate viewers’ attention and interpretive frames, guiding them toward particular experiential modes. These multimodal cues serve as pre-textual signposts, shaping expectations before textual engagement even begins.
Moreover, color modulation plays an understated but significant role. The nuanced shading found in TT1’s cover contributes to visual realism and depth, reinforcing the sensory authenticity of the depicted world. In contrast, the flat, unmodulated colors of TT2 correspond with its abstract style, creating a more symbolic and less immersive visual language. Color thus becomes a vector for emotional engagement, modulating reader response at a subconscious level.
The significance of these findings extends beyond Hongloumeng, suggesting broader implications for the publication and marketing of translated literature. Publishers’ decisions regarding cover design are not merely commercial or artistic but also epistemic choices that affect how readers cognitively and emotionally engage with complex cultural texts. This recognition invites a more nuanced approach to cover design, one that integrates insights from cognitive stylistics and semiotics to enhance reader experience.
Furthermore, the study highlights how visual semiotics can facilitate culturally situated interpretations. TT1’s detailed and intimate cover may resonate more deeply with readers seeking a closer cultural and emotional alignment with the text, while TT2’s distanced panorama could appeal to readers preferring a historicized or distanced engagement with the narrative. This duality underscores the potential for visual design to act as a mediator of cross-cultural understanding.
Importantly, the research also touches on the role of embodiment in aesthetic experience. By foregrounding facial expressions and material details, TT1’s cover engages sensorimotor cognition, activating embodied simulation that underlies emotional empathy. Such engagement promotes a richer immersive experience that extends beyond the intellectual to the affective domain.
The contrast in graphical articulation between TT1 and TT2 surfaces significant questions regarding abstraction and realism in visual communication within literary contexts. While high specificity tends to foster immersion, abstraction may facilitate critical distance and reflection. These divergent pathways suggest that cover design can strategically guide reader cognition toward distinct interpretive modes, be it emotional involvement or analytical contemplation.
This multimodal exploration also opens avenues for further interdisciplinary research, bridging translation studies, cognitive linguistics, visual culture, and publishing studies. As global readerships increasingly encounter translated works, understanding how paratextual elements like cover art shape reception becomes vital for culturally responsive publishing practices.
In essence, the study presents a compelling case that book covers are not superficial add-ons but integral components of multimodal discourse that actively shape the reading experience. Editors and publishers wield significant influence in constructing readers’ entry points into translated narratives, and their visual choices reverberate through cognitive and affective dimensions of engagement.
As digital and print media converge and compete for reader attention, the insights gleaned from TT1 and TT2’s comparative analysis urge a reconsideration of cover aesthetics in translation. Crafting covers that holistically consider cognitive involvement, cultural resonance, and interpretive positioning stands to enhance not only market appeal but also the depth of literary experience across linguistic and cultural boundaries.
Ultimately, this research underscores the profound interplay between visual semiotics and literary translation, advocating for a heightened awareness of how images function as cognitive and affective gateways. For translators, publishers, and designers alike, the multimodal dimensions of world construal offer fertile ground for innovation and enhanced cultural dialogue.
Subject of Research:
Multimodal world construals in English translations of Hongloumeng.
Article Title:
Multimodal world construals in English translations of Hongloumeng: a cognitive stylistic and systemic functional linguistic analysis.
Article References:
Zhao, M., Li, D. Multimodal world construals in English translations of Hongloumeng: a cognitive stylistic and systemic functional linguistic analysis. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1147 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05504-5
