A Study Of Metaphor Translation In Frog From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor Theory

The theoretical framework of this paper is constructed through conceptual metaphor theory.Under the theoretical framework,the author of this paper intends to analyze the translation of metaphors in the English version of Wa,Frog and focuses on the description and study of different processes and methods of metaphor translation in Frog under the influence of the systematicity feature and the coherence feature of conceptual metaphor to summarize the rules of metaphor translation in Frog.Since Aristotle,metaphor has been a hot topic for scholars.Traditional metaphor research is mainly limited to rhetorical perspective and considers metaphor as a common rhetorical device.The presentation of conceptual metaphor remarks the alteration of metaphor study from the rhetoric perspective to the cognitive perspective.The study of metaphor in conceptual metaphor theory is not just limited to the rhetorical level,but is also rooted in the cognitive field and regards it as a cognitive tool.According to conceptual metaphor theory,metaphors exist in our routine life,and there is no exception in literary works.Published in 2009,Wa has reached an extremely high level of art,and is one of the most important masterpieces in Chinese novels in recent years.American translator,Howard Goldblatt translated the novel,Wa,into the English version,Frog which has received a large number of foreign readers since it was published.Metaphors are widely spread in the novel and deserved to be studied.Thus,on the basis of key concepts of conceptual metaphor theory,including conceptual metaphor and metaphorical expression,classification and features,the source domain,the target domain,mapping process,etc.,this paper intends to build the theoretical framework of this study,and then analyze conceptual metaphor translation in Frog.The specific contents of this study include: firstly,extracting the corresponding metaphorical expressions from the source text according to the classification of conceptual metaphor,and analyzing the extensiveness of conceptual metaphor in the original text;secondly,according to the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor,summarizing the working mechanism of conceptual metaphor translation and based on that working mechanism,describing the working process of conceptual metaphor translation in Frog;in the end,according to the systematicityfeature and coherence feature of conceptual metaphor,performing the cognitive analysis of conceptual metaphor translation in Frog by separating metaphor translations into three different kinds.Through this study,the conclusion can be summed up as the followings: firstly,conceptual metaphor is widely existent,and conceptual metaphor in Wa is also the same;secondly,conceptual metaphor theory can be applied to the cognitive study of metaphor translation;thirdly,under the influence of the systematicity feature and on the basis of different systematicity: internal systematicity,external systematicity,and no systematicity,translators can take different translation processes to maintain the systematicity between conceptual metaphors in the original version and the corresponding ones in the translation version;fourthly,under the influence of the cultural coherence feature and based on the different degrees of coherence: close coherence,loose coherence,and no coherence,translators can use different translation methods to achieve the faithful expression of the original conceptual metaphor and the reproduction of the original style in the target text and to maintain the cultural coherence between conceptual metaphors in the original text and the corresponding ones in the translation version.At the same time,this study also has limitations,conceptual metaphor translation is a complex cognitive process involving many factors such as the original author,translator,publisher,government,and readers’ thinking,emotion,and psychology,and cannot be fully explained with conceptual metaphor theory alone.