Authors: Dr. Khadijah Ashiru-Abdulrahman
Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Abuja, Giri, Abuja
Date: 01/11/2025
This article reconsiders the conventional divide between translation and adaptation, arguing that both are inherently interpretive and transformative practices. While translation is typically seen as the linguistic transfer of a text across languages and adaptation as a creative shift across media or cultures, this study proposes a unified framework grounded in theories of intersemiotic translation (Jakobson, 1959) and cultural rewriting (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990). Drawing from adaptation theory (Hutcheon, 2006) and semiotics, the article explores how both translators and adapters act as co-authors, reshaping texts according to audience, context, ideology, and medium. This study demonstrates that fidelity in adaptation, much like in translation, often lies in preserving thematic and emotional resonance rather than replicating form. Ultimately, this research invites a shift from rigid binary thinking to a continuum of textual transformation, where both adaptation and translation are viewed as dynamic acts of ―meaning in motion. Download PDF