Para-translating territorial idiosyncrasy in the transcreation of Coca-cola in France

Abstract

The American brand Coca-Cola arrived in France in 1919 and has since been present in every corner of the country. However, for more than a decade, alternative cola brands have emerged in different regions of the Hexagon. In this article, we focus on two French alternative cola brands to analyse the transcreative phenomenon they have undergone, which aims to paratranslate the territorial idiosyncrasy of the geographic spaces where they have been transcreated. The cultural and paratranslational analysis we will adopt follows a dual approach: the first, based on the notion of the “boundary object”, will be social and anthropological; the second, based on the notion of “paratranslation”, will be linguistic, paralinguistic, and semiotic. In this way, we aim to uncover how the very effervescence of alternative colas transcends Coca-Cola’s commercial image, from its most subjective and intangible perception to its more concrete aspects — its lettering, its slogan, its colors, and its materialized extensions.