A Study On Metaphor Translation In Hawkes’ Hong Lou Meng From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphor

Hong Lou Meng is regarded as the peak of Chinese classical literature.From2006—2016,in Chinese Translators Journal,10 papers are found on different aspects of the translation study in Hong Lou Meng.The translation study in Hong Lou Meng becomes a continuously hot research topic.Metaphors are impossibly ignored because Cao Xueqin has constructed a metaphorical world in Hong Lou Meng.Metaphors play an important role both in the expression of theme and the portrayal of characters.The study on metaphor translation is an indispensable part of the translation study in Hong Lou Meng.In this thesis,the conceptual metaphor proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson is taken as theoretical framework of the study on metaphor translation.Conceptual metaphor theory marks a cognitive turn of metaphor study which naturally provides the study on metaphor translation with a cognitive perspective.As a powerful weapon for the study on metaphor translation,conceptual metaphor theory leads the study on metaphor translation to attaching more and more importance to whether the cognitive function of metaphors is realized successfully in target language.In this thesis,metaphors portraying the images of Jia Bao-yu and Lin Dai-yu in the former 80 chapters are collected as data and categorized into structural metaphors,ontological metaphors and orientational metaphors within the framework of conceptual metaphor.An analysis of the metaphor translation in Hawkes’ Hong Lou Meng is presented to explore whether the images of Bao-yu and Dai-yu have been reproduced successfully in target language.Through the analysis,the findings are as follows: in metaphor translation,Hawkes adopts both literal translation and free translation.The literal translation is adopted mostly in translation of structural metaphors.The images of the original metaphors are retained.In translation of ontological metaphors and orientational metaphors,Hawkes employs more free translation.Generally,the images of Bao-yu and Dai-yu have not been reproduced perfectly in target language because of the differences in cognition,geography and religion between English and Chinese.In metaphor translation,the importance is expected to be attached to the equal realization of cognitive function of metaphors in target language.In order to achieve a more successful realization of the cognitive function and a better reproduction of the images of characters,it is reasonable to employ the integrate translation,such as literal translation combined with free translation,literal translation with an additional explanation or free translation with an additional explanation,etc.