A Study On The English Translation Of Metaphors In Poverty Alleviation:China’s Experience And Contribution From The Perspective Of Cognitive Metaphor

Metaphor is not only a rhetorical device of language,but a cognitive way and cognitive means of human beings to learn about the world.It is a cognitive process or conception derived from the life experience,which is closely related to culture and helps people understand one kind of concept in terms of another.The white paper is a window to understand the current situation of a country in political,economic,educational and social fields.On April 6,2021,the white paper Poverty Alleviation: China’s Experience and Contribution issued by the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China,shows the world China’s perseverance and great achievements in poverty alleviation.It also contains a large number of metaphors which vividly reflect the characteristics of Chinese language and show the great moment of China’s endeavor to get rid of poverty.From the perspective of cognitive metaphor,this study classifies the metaphors used in this white paper,aiming at summarizing the metaphor translation strategies and methods,and finding out the affecting factors in metaphor translation.First of all,three main categories are classified in Poverty Alleviation: China’s Experience and Contribution by using the method of MIPVU(Metaphor Identification Procedures Vrije University),which are structural metaphors,ontological metaphors and orientational metaphors.Second,based on the categories of the metaphors,this study discusses and summarizes metaphor translation strategies and methods.This study finds that the metaphor translation strategies applied in this white paper include 1)domestication,which can be further elaborated in two aspects: the replacement of the metaphorical vehicle and the retention of the metaphorical meaning by omitting the metaphorical vehicle;2)foreignization,which retains the linguistic characteristics of the source language and the metaphorical vehicle of the source text;3)the strategy of the equivalent transformation of metaphorical vehicle,which means,the source culture and the target culture have the same or similar cognitive basis,making the equivalent transformation of metaphorical vehicle possible.Third,under the application of domestication,the methods of metaphor translation involve paraphrase,imitation,and variation translation.Under the guideline of foreignization and the strategy of the equivalent transformation of metaphorical vehicle,the method of literal translation is employed.Finally,on the basis of the analyses of translation strategies and methods,it is found that there are three main factors affecting metaphor translation: cognitive factors,linguistic factors and cultural factors.The study of metaphor translation in this thesis may enrich the interdisciplinary research of the theory of cognitive metaphor to a certain extent.It will also be of reference significance to the English translation of political publicity text,especially its English translation of metaphors.