An Exploration Into Mental Process Of Translation In The Framework Of Cognitive Metaphor

This is a systematic study of mental process in translation from the perspective of cognitive metaphor.According to contemporary views on translation and metaphor, translation is not only the activity of interchange of two linguistic forms, but a complicated cognitive and psychological process of implanting the conceptual events conceived by the source to the target. Contemporary metaphor theory emphasizes its working mechanism as a conceptual phenomenon rather its rhetorical function. Owing to the intrinsic relationship between the two notions, translation and metaphor have much in common in terms of their literal meaning, related terms or concepts, projections as well as their working mechanisms. On the basis of their common features, this paper applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Conceptual Blending Theory (CBT) to study on the mental process of translation in an exploratory way. It aims at providing a unifying framework for the cognitive mental process in translation and testing the explanatory power of the two theories.In terms of the relationship between the communicated cognitive connection and the organizing frames present in both two inputs, the author divides translation into three categories: cognitive connections conveyed by a shared organizing frame; different cognitive connections conveyed by an organizing frame; and cognitive connections conveyed by different organizing frames. Finally some controversies over literal vs. free translation, domestication vs. foreignization, and translatability vs. untranslatability have been reconsidered and get solved by the implication of metaphorical approach in translation.According to the analysis of the cognitive mechanism of CMT and CBT, the author holds that the two metaphorical cognitive theories compensate each other in the cognitive process of translation and it has great significance to translation study. The combination of CMT and CBT has provided a brand-new perspective for the translation fields and will surely facilitate the development and perfection of both researches on cognitive linguistics and translation.