The Explanatory Power Of CMT & BT And Their Implication In Translation Studies

The Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) put forward by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson and the Blending Theory (BT) proposed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner are two important theoretical frameworks in cognitive linguistics. The present thesis first discusses the working features of the two theories, and then examines, by using the two theories in the analysis of metaphor and other linguistic and conceptual phenomena, including political cartoons, fables, humors, etc., their respective powers in elucidating the cognitive mechanism of the human mind in processing linguistic data, and finally, with the illustration showing the metaphorical nature of translation and what the two theories can contribute to translation studies.The paper concludes that with the cognitive processes/mechanism described as "mapping" in CMT and "blending" in BT, the two theories play mutually complementary roles in elucidating the conceptual structure of human mind. As similar mechanism of mapping and blending /integration is at work in the processes of translation, the two theories also provide a new perspective for us to examine translation.