Translating The Animal Metaphor Within The Framework Of Conceptual Metaphor Theory

This study is an attempt to explore the translation of the animal metaphor from Chinese to English in Shui Hu Zhuan, within the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in the range of the cognitive linguistic.Studies on metaphor have undergone a long history of more than 2000 years both in China and the West. In traditional theories, metaphor is considered as a figure of speech, in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one is the other. However, in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), first proposed by Lakoff and Johnson in their book Metaphors We Live By, metaphor is not a mere linguistic phenomenon but a universal way of thinking and cognition. Grounded in people's experience, metaphor is mappings from the "source" domains to the "target" domains.To human beings, animals are the closest living organism and the most intimate companions. They provide people with an extremely productive source domain in metaphor since they have rich the categorical attributes and delicate relationship with human beings. In Shui Hu Zhuan, the animal metaphor plays an important role in vivifying its description. For instance, about one-third heroes out of 108 in Mount Liang are nicknamed through the animal metaphor.For a very long time, translation was considered to be no more than a transformation at the linguistic level, and the translation study on metaphor was largely rhetorical-oriented under the influence of the traditional metaphor studies. However, since 1970s, translation study has become interdisciplinary, involving language, culture, philosophy and other fields of knowledge. The rapid and vigorous development in cognitive linguistics enriches the research of translation.The present author applies the approach of Conceptual Metaphor Theory to the animal metaphor translations in Shui Hu Zhuan, making a comparative study of the two versions by Buck and Shapiro. She examines the cognitive operating process in the animal metaphor translation, and studies the general operating process of translation. This study is an attempt to explore the translation of the animal metaphor from Chinese to English in Shui Hu Zhuan, within the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) in the range of the cognitive linguistic.Studies on metaphor have undergone a long history of more than 2000 years both in China and the West. In traditional theories, metaphor is considered as a figure of speech, in which one thing is compared to another by saying that one is the other. However, in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), first proposed by Lakoff and Johnson in their book Metaphors We Live By, metaphor is not a mere linguistic phenomenon but a universal way of thinking and cognition. Grounded in people's experience, metaphors are mappings from the'"source" domains to the "target" domains.To human beings, animals are the closest living organism and the most intimate companions. They provide people with an extremely productive source domain in metaphor since they have rich the categorical attributes and delicate relationship with human beings. In Shui Hu Zhuan, the animal metaphor plays an important role in vivifying its description. For instance, about one-third heroes out of 108 in Mount Liang are nicknamed through the animal metaphor.For a very long time, translation was considered to be no more than a transformation at the linguistic level, and the translation study on metaphor was largely rhetorical-oriented under the influence of the traditional metaphor studies. However, since 1970s, translation study has become interdisciplinary, involving language, culture, philosophy and other fields of knowledge. The rapid and vigorous development in cognitive linguistics enriches the research of translation.The present author applies the approach of Conceptual Metaphor Theory to the animal metaphor translations in Shui Hu Zhuan, making a comparative study of the two versions by Buck and Shapiro. She examines the cognitive operating process in the animal metaphor translation, and studies the general operating process of translation.