Cultural Implication and Translation of Metaphor in English

【摘要】翻譯是一項既復雜又富有吸引力的工作，因為它涉及了語際間的轉換和跨文化交際的活動，包括了兩種語言和兩種文化。本文分了四類探討了文化內涵義及隱喻， 并討論了如何翻譯文化內涵義中的隱喻。

【關鍵詞】文化內涵義；隱喻；翻譯

【作者簡介】陳璐禎，福建省廈門第一中學。

1. Cultural implication and metaphor

When learning a language， we rely much on the dictionary to look for its meanings. Actually， the meanings provided in the dictionary only give us the literal senses. However， language is closely related to culture. According to some statistics， metaphor is the figurative expression which is used most frequently. Regarding how to analyze the cultural metaphor， it can be concluded to four categories.

1.1 Same image， similar sense

Although each nation has its own culture， they still have some experiences in common. In this way， they have come to the same understanding of the expressions in this aspect， and it is easy to accept the cross communication in such kind of things or events. For example， “stalemate”， whose metaphorical meaning is deadlock（陷入僵局）.

1.2 Same image， different sense

Because of different national characteristics， people have different views on the same things， but the same image carries different sense， which indicates the differences in their traditional views. In Chinese， when people waste money， we usually use “揮金如土（spend money like soil）” to illustrate the event. In English， it is “spend money like water”. The reason for it is that China is a continent country with large land， while England is an island country， which is reflected in language.

1.3 Different image， similar sense

Owing to different traditional cultures， Chinese and English always express the similar meanings by using different images. For example， cattle（牛） are a kind of animal commonly raised and trained in China. Cattle are hard-working and used as the major means to help with farming. So cattle are usually used to describe persons who are willing to serve others. But in English， people use horse instead of cattle to create metaphors in this aspect， such as “willing horse”（老黃牛）.

1.4 Absence of image and sense

Absence of image and sense means that the image and sense are exclusive to one language or culture. In this sense， this kind of cultural metaphor is difficult to have the substitute in another language. For example， in China， “喜鵲（magpie）”is the propitious bird， so“鵲報”means “the good news”， while“烏鴉”（crow） is culturally different. So， Chinese idioms related to “crow”（烏鴉） always indicate negative meanings， like “烏鴉嘴”， which refers to a blame for those who say inauspicious words.

2. Strategies of translation

When talking about the strategies of translation， we cannot forget the two terms—foreignizing and domestication. They are the general rules of translation. Referring to the cultural metaphor， the rules are also adopted frequently.

2.1 Foreignizing

Foreignization， in short， means transferring one object into another， which will help people from different culture to understand it easily. Such as “愛屋及烏” is “love me， love my dog”. The word “dog” in this phrase is the foreinizing strategy in translation， which is easily accepted by people from English-speaking countries.

2.2 Domestication

Another general rule is domestication， which refers to the culture-oriented expressions of literal translation， which minimizes the strangeness of foreign texts for the readers of the target language. The English phrases like “spring up like mushroom” should be translated into “雨后春筍”. In this way， the target language readers will make the sense， and the translation can reach the purpose of translation or cultural communication.

In all， foreignizing and domestication are the general rules. The most useful method consists in the real situation and context. Sometimes， we need to reproduce the image or replace it.

References：

[1]Alice Deignan，Collins Cobuild English Guides：7 Metaphor.Beijing：Foreign language Press，2001.

[2]Lakoff，G.Johnson，M.Metaphors We Live by Chicago[M].Chicago：University of Chicago Press，1987.

[3]龔光明.翻譯思維學[M].上海社會科學院出版社，2004.

[4]胡曙中.英漢修辭比較研究[M].上海外語教育出版社，1993.