C-E Translation Of Metaphors In China’s Official Speeches:Problems And Solutions

Metaphor translation study has gained more and more attention as the metaphor is mostly regarded as a vital cognitive tool instead of something peripheral without which man can do well. However, the practice and theory of C-E metaphor translation are far from satisfactory in China’s official speeches where a number of culture-loaded metaphors. which are applied to better express speakers’ideas, are not translated well.Many metaphor translation problems are found in the translations of speeches from powerful government websites. They include (1) failing to maintain metaphorical features;(2) partly connecting the cultural connotative meaning of a Chinese metaphor and an English one; and (3) an English metaphor being poles apart of the cultural connotative meaning of a Chinese one. What’s worse, there is a lack of specific studies of C-E metaphor translation. The contrast between the ever-increasing importance of C-E metaphors translation and the problems-haunted translations calls us for more efforts to study it.Under the guidance of the two translation principles of maintaining metaphorical features and connecting the cultural connotative meaning between a Chinese metaphor and an English one, this study has tried to analyze the three major translation problems carefully from a cultural perspective and finally puts forward three translation solutions on the basis of previous studies of metaphor translation.The three solutions are (1) using the same image,(2) using a different image, and (3) maintaining the original image with explanation. They are proved effective with typical examples in this study.In a word, this study suggests three effective solutions to the C-E translation problems found in China’s official speeches. It is significant both practically and theoretically considering the unsatisfactory practice and theory of C-E metaphor translation.