A Study On The Translation Of Metaphors In Sheng Si Pi Lao From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor

Mo Yan is the first mainland Chinese writer who won Nobel Prize in Literature.As one of his representative works that received many international awards—Sheng Si Pi Lao has aroused wide attention in academic circles throughout the world.Numerous studies on Sheng Si Pi Lao and its English version,especially studies on the metaphors in the text,have been conducted from various perspectives such as:Rewriting,Skopos,Functional Equivalence,etc.,but few studies have been done from cognitive perspective.As one important carrier of culture,metaphor has always been a hot and difficult issue in the field of translation study.In the book Metaphors We Live by published in1980,Lakoff and Johnson proposes the Conceptual Metaphor Theory,which points out that,metaphor is not just a matter of language but a kind of cognitive activity.The introduction of this theory provides a new perspective for the study of metaphors and metaphor translation.This thesis attempts to analyze the metaphors in Mo Yan's novel Sheng Si Pi Lao and their translations in Goldblatt's translated version from the perspective of conceptual metaphor theory,and discuss the translation strategies of metaphors in literary works.Under the guidance of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory,utilizing the Metaphor Identification Procedure by Pragglejaz Group,this thesis collects 82 metaphorical expressions from Sheng Si Pi Lao and their corresponding translations in Goldblatt's translated version.Mainly a qualitative study has been applied to analyze the major metaphorical systems in the novel Sheng Si Pi Lao and their translation in Goldblatt's English version.The research findings are as follows: first,six kinds of conceptual metaphors are identified,namely: the metaphor of opera,the metaphor of black,the metaphor of chessboard,the metaphor of vinegar,the metaphor of eating and the metaphor of selling.Second,four translation strategies concerning the translation of these metaphors in Goldblatt's version are summarized,namely: reproducing the source domain in target language;replacing the source domain in target language;conversion of metaphors to non-metaphorical paraphrase;deletion of metaphors.The factors that influence the choice of translation strategies are also explored,such as context,culture and the author's cultural cognition.This study is significant in that it can provide some enlightenment and advice for other translators in their translation work to produce better translations,thus helping to disseminate the profound Chinese civilization abroad.