Metaphor Transfer As Reestablishment Of Cultural Conceptualization

It has been agreed on that metaphor transfer across languages and cultures would be immensely hindered by linguistic differences, but more importantly, by a kaleidoscope of cultural elements. Besides, various strategies on metaphor transfer have been proposed from both the normative and prescriptive approaches to translation studies.While unable to develop anything completely new, the author views this paper as an attempt to test the idea of "linguistic domestication and cultural foreignization" in the realm of metaphor transfer. Based on the conceptual metaphor theory, this paper, after an in-depth analysis on how metaphors and cultures intertwine, goes on to reveal that: metaphor transfer should not solely focus on the linguistic aspects of metaphors, but also the cultural conceptualization behind them, which is exactly what should be translated; therefore, the kernel of metaphor transfer resides not in the choice between domestication and foreignization, but rather in the treatment of the cultural conceptualization.Adopting Lakoff’s distinction between conceptual mapping and image mapping, the author addresses the similar and different mapping conditions under these two broad categories, with the purpose to attest to the feasibility of cultural foreignization in transferring metaphors.Specifically, questions to be raised and tentatively answered are:In what ways is metaphor transfer complicated by cultural elements?How could the conceptual metaphor theory throw light on metaphor transfer?What does the conceptual metaphor theory imply to the idea of "understanding and expression" in translation studies?How could the idea of "cultural foreignization" be applied in metaphor transfer?...