A Study Of English Translation Of Metaphors In Fortress Besieged From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor

The history of research on metaphor has been as long as more than2000years. In traditional theories of metaphor, metaphor is generally seen as a rhetorical means and purely regarded as a language phenomenon. Since the1970s, researches on metaphor have been increasingly framed by the perspectives of cognitive linguistics rather than traditional rhetoric. Cognitive linguistics fundamentally believes that metaphor is a basic form of human thoughts and cognition, and in essence, is a basic way for human beings to conceptualize abstract categories. The cognitive turn in metaphor studies undoubtedly provides a new perspective and theoretical basis for the research on metaphor. One of the most significant outcomes of cognitive studies on metaphor is the Conceptual Metaphor Theory put forward by Lakoff and others which view metaphor as a conceptual phenomenon, and not only a matter of language, but more importantly a kind of common cognitive mechanism and way of thinking. According to this theory, metaphor is the structural mappings from the source domain to the target domain. Many new inspirations have been brought to the studies on metaphor translation by the Conceptual Metaphor Theory.Fortress Besieged is the only novel written by Ch’ien Chung-shu in his lifetime. A major feature of the novel is the application of a large number of metaphors. However, in the studies on English translation of Fortress Besieged, great importance has not been attached to the research on conceptual metaphor translation, perhaps owing to the influence of the traditional views that metaphor is just regarded as a rhetorical phenomenon. Hence, studies on metaphor translation are mostly conducted from a language perspective instead of a cognitive one. Translation is a process of transferring a cognitive means embodied in one culture’s language to another by the target language, and it is also a process of disseminating national cultures. Metaphor is closely related to translation. Since cognition is the foundation on which metaphor—a universal phenomenon in human languages—forms, it is obviously unscientific to discuss metaphor translation without cognition. Based on this view of metaphor, in Fortress Besieged metaphor is a language art as well as the performance of the novel’s unique creative thoughts. Insufficient and limited understanding of metaphor may result in serious faults in translation. For example, the author’s composing intention may be misinterpreted. This thesis is a qualitative study based on a quantitative investigation, aiming to apply the Theory of Cognitive Metaphor to the exemplified research on the English translation of218major metaphorical expressions in the novel Fortress Besieged. Its purpose is to explore the strategies of translation and the factors that influence the choice of translation strategies:context, culture and the author’s cultural cognition. Finally, the author pointed out the problems and limitations of the present thesis and made some suggestions for the future study in this area.