A Study Of Metaphor And Its Translating Methods In Ancient Chinese Poetry

As an important and universal language phenomenon, metaphor arouses great interests of experts in different fields. It has been studied and written about by numerous scholars even since Aristotle. It is commonly thought that metaphor is one of rhetoric devices. However, with the further study of metaphors, scholars have formed some scientific and complete systems, which are about its natures and functions. The most outstanding characteristic of the modern study of metaphors is breaking away from the restriction of rhetoric and making interdisciplinary research on them. And in the translation of metaphors, people have begun to pay more and more attention.The study on the translating methods of ancient Chinese poetry is fundamentally important for two reasons. The first one is its own specialty in structure while the second the differences between Chinese culture and Western culture. We know that Chinese language is worthy of being called as a treasure-house of metaphors, and let alone the ancient Chinese poetry which is known as a sea of metaphors. By studying the translation of metaphors, this paper aims at breaking through research on translating ancient Chinese poetry. The author attempts to offer some strategies of dealing with metaphors in this area.Based on the linguistic principle of metaphor, this paper expounds its features as definition, classification, function and formation, and explores the translatability of poetry on the foundation of the translation principles. At the same time, combining with the company of the two points above, the paper inquires into the approaches of translating metaphors which are proposed by scholars at home and overseas. Next, the author illustrates both the employment and the function of metaphors in ancient Chinese poetry and interprets the skills being adopted in the translation practice. A detailed survey is carried out to compare the various translation strategies and techniques of handling metaphors in Chinese poetry of the ancient time. Then a final goal of getting some systematic, scientific and feasible translation methods in ancient Chinese poetry is achieved.