A Study On English Translation Of Metaphor In Chuang-tzu From The Perspective Of ICM

Metaphor is an important way of thinking and expressing in Chuang-tzu,academics have made researches about it from the perspective of traditional rhetoric,but have not touched internal structures of metaphor concepts and cognitive mechanisms of translators.Cognitive linguists think that metaphor is a deep-seated cognitive model,which is ubiquitous in human’s mind.ICM(Idealized Cognitive Model)refers to a patterned psychological construction during human interaction with the objective world,which reflects human’s subjective initiatives and can provide an idealized cognitive model for us to recognize the whole world.The thesis makes a comparative analysis of different representations of metaphors in Chuang-tzu from the perspective of ICM theory and discovers that embodiments of translators’ subjective initiatives are mainly reflected as follows---through retaining metaphors’ original meanings,extending metaphorical connotations,clarifying semantic logical relations and transforming source domains to help target readers construct idealized cognitive models so that similar cognitive effects can be achieved.The author of the thesis finds that translation methods of metaphors in Chuang-tzu are mainly as follows:1)When there are similar ICMs between target language and source language,translators generally translate source domains directly.2)When metaphors in two cultures are not completely overlapped but partly activated,translators generally adopt the method of literal translation with explanatory expressions.3)When translators can’t find a corresponding ICM in the target language for a certain ICM in source languages,translators generally transform ICM in the source domain with a new ICM in the target domain to achieve an equivalent activation.4)When there are distinct cultural differences between source languages and target languages,translators generally adopt the method of free translation to make translations understandable.Through the investigation and analysis of characteristics of metaphors in Chuang-tzu and translators’ subjective initiatives,the author of the thesis thinks that ICM can make a comparatively reasonable explanation for translators’ subjective initiatives in their selections of translation strategies and methods,which has its own merits compared with current researches of metaphor translations,but still needs further improvement in later studies and researches.