A Study On Metaphor Translation Of Tang Poetry From Cognitive Linguistic Perspective-with A Case Study On The English Versions Of Song You Ren

This thesis is a tentative study of the translation of Tang Poems ---- a study that focuses on the metaphor translation from the perspective of cognitive linguistics.As is known to all, the Tang Dynasty is the peak period in the history of Chinese poems. As gems of Chinese poetry, Tang poetry reflects the humanities, the place and the people, the political and cultural life of the Tang Dynasty, and thus we can say that they are the cream of Chinese culture. Naturally, they are beloved by people both at home and abroad. However, in order to be genuinely understood and accepted by foreigners, who know little about Chinese culture, Tang poems must be translated cautiously and in detail. And at the same time the translation of poetry bears great significance in promoting the great cultural heritage to the whole world.And in the study of translation of Tang Poetry, the most controversial one is the translation of metaphors in it. Metaphor has been a popular subject in the history of linguistic study for quite a long time. It was considered as the figurative method in literature, and in Metaphors We Live by, Johnson and Lakoff reconsidered metaphor, and drew a conclusion that metaphor is part of our human language and exists in our daily life. Without metaphor, language would be boring and its function and efficiency would be greatly reduced. And poetry, as one of the major occasions of metaphor application, has attracted a lot of attention. This thesis chooses the abundant metaphors in Chinese Tang poetry as the media and uses the theory of Johnson and Lakoff's cognitive linguistics to study the different methods of translating metaphors in Tang poetry.This thesis is divided into five parts: Chapter One makes a general survey on metaphor study and specifies the significance of this thesis. Chapter Two introduces the metaphor studies from different perspectives in history. Some features of metaphors and classifications of metaphor are introduced. And in this chapter the emphasis is put on the metaphor studies from the cognitive perspective and furthermore, the implications of it are thoroughly illustrated. Chapter Three presents a general survey of metaphor in poetry translation and the principles of translating metaphors, and then it narrows down to the Chinese Tang poetry. And from three perspectives, principles of poetry translation are put forward, namely, in terms of Lefevere Andre's principles, in terms of the cultural factors and in terms of the aesthetic requirement. Then comes the fourth chapter, some strategies of metaphor translation in Tang poetry are suggested, that is to say, maintaining the original metaphor, converting the original metaphor and deleting the original metaphor. By using a case study, these three strategies are explained at large.