Analysis Of Nickname Translation In Shapiro’s Outlaws Of The Marsh From The Perspective Of Idealized Cognitive Models

Nickname is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a cultural phenomenon. In Shuihuzhuan, nicknames of the108heroes are composed of metaphors and metonymies. The essence of the108heroes’nicknames mainly lies in their rich cultural connotations, metaphoric and metonymic components. Therefore, when translating nicknames, if translators cannot precisely deliver these features of nicknames, they may fail to convey the essence of nicknames, and fail to enable the target reader to comprehend the charm and connotation of the108heroes’nicknames.Cognitive linguists state that language is the product of human’s interaction with the world. And metaphors and metonymies are not merely linguistic or rhetorical phenomena, but basic cognitive instruments people use to understand the world and their physical experience. On the basis of this, Lakoff put forward the famous cognitive linguistic theory-Idealized Cognitive Models (ICM) in1987. This theory explains, in a cognitive way, the constructing process and the language generative mechanism of metaphors and metonymies.The thesis chooses Shapiro’s nickname translation in Outlaws of the Marsh as its study case. From the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, on the theoretic basis of ICM, this thesis makes an analysis on the constructing process of Shapiro’s translation of the108heroes’ nicknames. In translating, first, Shapiro, as the reader of the source text, constructs the meaning of the nickname’s cultural connotation with Chinese language and cultural model, and gains the corresponding cognitive experience of the meaning. Then, Shapiro renders this cognitive experience in the target text in a way that fits the English language and cultural model, and enables the target reader to perceive the same cognitive experience with the source text reader. At last, this thesis concludes that a successful nickname translation must be cognitive equivalence to the source text.