On The Translation Of Metaphor From The Perspective Of Culture

Translating is a complex and fascinating task, as I. A. Richards (1953) once claimed that translating is probably the most complex type of event in the history of the cosmos. In the development of modern translation theories, there is a tendency that culture is introduced into this field. Translating becomes more complex for it has been defined as a cross-cultural communication event, and it involves not only two languages but also two cultures. This shift from emphasis on linguistic transfer towards emphasis on cultural transfer naturally exists in the translation of metaphor. Metaphor is not only an important figure of speech, but also a cognitive means of human mind. The people with different means of thinking have different cultures. The metaphorical language used by people must be fully saturated with culture peculiar to it. So because of the influence of cultural factor, the translation of metaphors becomes the most important particular problem. (Newmark, 2001:104) This puts forward urgency for current studies on metaphor translation from the perspective of culture.As for the relation between culture and translation, the study can be done from two sides of macro point of view and micro point of view. This thesis attempts to probe into the translation of metaphor from microscopic view. It tries to seek for...