On The Metaphor In Tang Poetry And Its Translation

Metaphor is a universal phenomenon in language. Different language systems contain different metaphor systems. The word "metaphor" was originated from Greek, meaning "proceeding from one to another". Actually scholars had paid close attention to the study of metaphor two thousand years ago. The traditional views hold that metaphor is a figurative device which is used to decorate the language. However, with more and more studies on metaphor, people have made a considerable improvement with respect to their views about metaphor. The cognitive scientists consider that, from the angle of cognitive science, it’s unscientific to view metaphor as a concept of rhetoric, because this kind of view ignores the essence of metaphor-the essence of cognition. In the1980s, Metaphors We Lived By by Lakoff and Johnson was published. In this book, they put forward the theory of conceptual metaphor for the first time. Lakoff and Johnson claim that metaphor is not a figurative device as regarded by the traditional views, but a means of cognition. Metaphor exists not only in literary works, but also in our daily life. Metaphor is everywhere in real life, and we can say that the whole conceptual system of humans is based on the foundation of metaphor. The psychological working mechanism of metaphor is the mapping between the two conceptual domains. Its essence is using one specific concept to understand another abstract concept. On the basis of this cognition, the translation of metaphor is something more than the language conversion of figure of speech. Translators should have a deep understanding of the psychological basis of metaphor production, and determine specific translating strategies in accordance with the psychological working mechanism of metaphor. Only when the translation can be perceived by target readers is it a successful translation.Poetry is the ocean of metaphor. A good case in point is classical Chinese poetry which boasts a large number of metaphors. As the peak of classical Chinese poetry, Tang poetry contains a great many of metaphors. Tang poets used to employ metaphor to express their feelings. As the fruit of traditional Chinese culture, Tang poetry is rich in use of metaphors that have the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture. The sources of these metaphors are varied. Some of them relate to the unique Chinese environment and religions; some others are originated from Chinese myths and allusions. The differences of living environment, belief, language and culture produce the differences of cognition between Chinese and Western readers. When they deal with the same metaphor, Chinese readers and foreign readers will have different cognitions. Therefore, it’s difficult for foreign readers to understand the deep connotations of metaphors in Tang poetry, to say nothing of translating these metaphors. When we cope with the translation of metaphors on Tang poetry, on the one hand, we should make foreign readers perceive and understand the implications of metaphor in Tang poetry; on the other hand, the implied culture of poems can be delivered. In order to achieve this goal, translators should analyze the differences and similarities between Chinese and Western metaphors and their psychological basis. Only when they realize the equivalent mapping between metaphor domains, the translations can be perceived by target readers.The first chapter of this thesis is an introduction. It introduces the background, purpose and significance of the study as well as the organization of the thesis. The purpose of this thesis is to conclude several useful translating strategies from the analysis about metaphor translation of Tang poetry in light of conceptual metaphor theory, and hence help foreign readers have a better understanding about metaphors in Tang poetry.The second chapter is the literature review. It introduces the traditional views on metaphor, previous studies at home and previous studies abroad.The third chapter introduces the conceptual metaphor theory, three types of conceptual metaphor, and Newmark’s translation views on metaphor and the poetry translating principles formulated by Xu Yuanchong. Lakoff and Johnson put forward the conceptual metaphor theory. Meanwhile, they divide the conceptual metaphor into three types:orientational metaphor, structural metaphor and ontological metaphor. Orientational metaphor means using spatial concepts such as up-down, front-back, deep-shallow and center-edge concepts to understand another conceptual system, as in "Happiness is up; sadness is down". Structural metaphor refers to using one conceptual structure to construct another conceptual structure, as in "Time is money". Ontological metaphor refers to the phenomenon that people regard abstract concepts such as intangible vague feelings, thoughts and events as specific tangible objects. For example, the Tang poet Li Bai compares the abstract emotion "homesickness" to the specific object "bright moon". As for metaphor translation, Peter Newmark proposes seven strategies:reproducing the same image in the target language, replacing the image in the source language with a standard target-language image, translation of metaphor by simile, retaining the image, translation of metaphor (or simile) by simile plus sense (or a metaphor plus sense), conversion of metaphor to sense, deletion and keeping the same metaphor combined with sense. As far as poetry translation is concerned, Professor Xu Yuanchong has formulated "three-beauty" principles, namely beauty in sound, beauty in form and beauty in sense.The forth chapter analyzes the sources of metaphor in Tang poetry. The sources of metaphor in Tang poetry are varied and they are from environment, values, Chinese myth, allusions, customs, and so on. In addition, this chapter makes a conclusion about the conceptual metaphor of Tang poetry according to three types of conceptual metaphor, which helps people have a comprehensive knowledge about conceptual metaphor in Tang poetry.In Chapter Five, the author summarizes four translating strategies about metaphor translation with respect to Tang poetry through the analysis of translations of Tang poetry. The strategies include retaining the original metaphor, converting the original metaphor, paraphrasing the original metaphor and combination of retaining the original metaphor and using annotation.The sixth chapter of this thesis is the conclusion. This chapter makes a summary of the thesis and findings, limitations and recommendations for future research. From the angle of conceptual metaphor theory and in combination with Newmark’s view on metaphor translation and Xu Yuanchong’s poetry translation principles, this thesis analyzes the metaphors in Tang poetry and then summarizes the translating strategies.The materials of this thesis come from Xu Yuanchong’s300Tang Poems, Guo Zhuzhang and Fu Huisheng’s An Anthology of Popular Ancient Chinese Poems and Wen Shu’s Best-known Tang and Song Four-line Poems.