A Study On Metaphor Translation In Hong Lou Meng From The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theoty

Hong Lou Meng, one of China’s four great classical novels, is well known as themasterpiece of classical Chinese novels for its high value of ideological content andartistic characteristics. The author, Cao Xueqin not only describes various characterswith vivid and beautiful language, but also depicts the typical life of Chinesearistocracy in the18thcentury with precise observation. The novel, summit of Chineseclassical works, is regarded as the encyclopedia of Chinese traditional culture.Metaphor plays an important role in the great novel. There are numerousmetaphors in Hong Lou Meng, which provide abundant resource for the studies ofmany subjects: linguistics, literature and rhetoric and so on. Metaphor translation isalso a key point of the research on the translation of the whole novel. Most of theprevious studies on metaphor translation of Hong Lou Meng are still in the rhetoricperspective. The cognitive turn in metaphor studies creates possibilities to studymetaphor translation from various perspectives deeply.In the traditional study of linguistics and translation, metaphor was viewed as arhetoric element in literary works and treated only as decoration in language. With thefurther study of metaphor, people begin to notice the cognitive functions of metaphor,explicating the thinking mode, improving the language and inspiring artistic creation.Based on the mental space theory, the famous linguists Gilles Fauconnier raisedconceptual blending theory, as an important part in cognitive science and appliedwidely in other related fields of study. Conceptual blending theory offers a newperspective for the study of metaphor.The author of the thesis tries to study metaphor translation of Hong Lou Mengfrom the perspective of conceptual blending theory, mainly focusing on “Red”metaphor, Personal Name metaphor and metaphor in poetry, to discuss the process ofmetaphor translation, explore the causes of unequivalence in metaphor translation, andthe subjective activity of the translator. Therefore, the study on metaphor translation ofHong Lou Meng can be expanded to a wider approach.