A Comparative Study Of The Lantern Riddle Translation In Hong Lou Meng From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor

The lantern riddles, as a integral part in Hong Lou Meng, are of great importance in elaborating the plots of the story, adumbrating main characters? destinies, portraying the images of the major figures and presenting the cultural and spiritual life of people at that time. Therefore, the lantern riddles translation is a non-negligible factor in studying the translated versions of Hong Lou Meng.Conceptual Metaphor Theory put forward in Lakoff and Johnson?s book Metaphors We Live By has accomplished the “cognitive turn” for metaphor, which highlights the cognitive function of metaphor. At the same time, metaphor is an important productive mechanism of lantern riddle, and lantern riddle in turn is a typical metaphorical text. Therefore, Conceptual Metaphor Theory, to some extent, coincides with lantern riddles, and thus provides a new perspective for studying the lantern riddles translations in Hong Lou Meng.Based on the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, 10 lantern riddles translations in Yang Xianyi?s and David Hawkes? complete English versions are analyzed in a descriptive and comparative research method. By interpreting the metaphorical meaning and the cognitive function of the lantern riddles in the original texts, this thesis attempts to explore what are the typical characteristics of the lantern riddles translations in the two translated texts and whether the two translations have precisely realized the cognitive function of the lantern riddles applied in the original novel? The findings reveal that firstly, in the translation of the lantern riddles, constrained by those factors like culture and literary context, there often exist the deletions of metaphor images or the poor expressions for conveying the metaphorical meaning in the two translations. Therefore, the cognitive function of the lantern riddles in the original novel has not been completely and accurately realized in the translated texts. While comparatively, the Yangs? version is much better than Hawkes? in terms of conveying the cognitive effect of the lantern riddles in Hong Lou Meng; secondly, there are differences in geographical environment, cultural origin, thinking mode and ethnic customs between English and Chinese culture, so the cultural connotations and characteristics underlying those differences are also different from each other, which causes the cultural phenomenon like lantern riddle with specific cultural connotations untranslatable. However, during the process of cultural convergence, some comparatively better ways of translating should be explored to convey to the English readers the cultural phenomenon like lantern riddle. Therefore, some of the lantern riddles translations need additional explanations. If additional explanations after the methods they have adopted are employed in the process of translation, the implied cultural connotations and the cognitive function underlying those lantern riddles might get supplements to a certain degree. In a word, through this research, it is hoped to provide some helpful materials for the future studies both on the diverse and deep study of Hong Lou Meng and on the translation of the lantern riddle in other literary works.