A Study On Translation Model Of Metaphors In Chinese Science Fiction From An Embodied Cognitive Perspective

Since the beginning of the 21 st century,quite a few translations of Chinese science fiction have been internationally well received and appreciated,thus forming a hot topic of concern in translation studies.The metaphor has been a core topic amongst many fields ever since Aristotle.The contemporary cognitive linguistics regards metaphors as a pattern of thinking,a systematic cross-domain mapping between two conceptual domains,where one domain is understood in terms of another,and conceptual integration and embodied cognition are involved.However,when compared with the vigorous activities in the production of the Chinese science fiction,and the huge volumes of studies on metaphor at home and abroad,relevant translational studies on metaphors in Chinese science fiction find few high-quality articles,and a dearth of researchers have studied the issue of metaphor translation in Chinese science fiction.From an embodied cognitive perspective,based on deductive and inductive methods,this thesis proposes that there exists mapping potential in the construction of a metaphor.Besides,an embodied blending model for metaphor translation is put forward on the basis of the conceptual integration theory,which contends that metaphor translation should be founded on the degree of embodiment and embodied cognitive space behind the original metaphor and the translated metaphor,and that the literal translation should be the default approach to translate the subject matter and the metaphorical mapping therein on condition that no cultural cognitive conflicts arise therefrom.The inequivalence or absence of the embodied meaning concerned,be it semantic or cultural,if some,can be compensated by such means as amplification,annotation or footnotes.It is not advisable to simply change the subject matter or the embodied mapping perspective therein in the source language in order to cater to the readers from the target language.The metaphorical expressions are primarily extracted from the translations of Ken Liu,a Chinese American writer and translator.Such metaphorical expressions are analysed to test and expatiate the practical application of the model proposed,as well as the degree of embodiment and the embodied cognitive space,in the hope of throwing some matches into the sparking translation studies on metaphor in Chinese science fiction,and offering my humble opinion on metaphor translation from an embodied cognitive perspective.