On Metaphor Translations In Dao De Jing From The Perspective Of Eco-Translatology

Human cognitive ability changes with times.When we are neither restricted to the known things with their physical functions,nor satisfied with depicting concrete objects,we are likely to possess a creative competence,the metaphorical thinking mode,which bridges the known information with the unknown one.This thinking mode helps us to learn new knowledge by using the same way we had mastered when we did in the past.In this way,new knowledge in target domain corresponds with the known things in source domain,for they share some similarities and associative meanings as a result.The present research attempts to study metaphors in Dao De Jing,one of the most influential pre-Qin classics.This thesis selects two English versions respectively translated by Arthur Waley and Lin Yutang,and collects 87 metaphors in total.With the reference of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory,and the flexible uses of Chinese language,the author of the thesis divides these metaphors into nine categories.These categories with three properties are tested:nominalizated property(substance metaphor,location metaphor and character metaphor),motional property(activity metaphor,movement metaphor and container metaphor)and characterized property(numeral metaphor,emotional metaphor and feminine metaphor).After analyzing the mapping modes and the similarities between two different domains,these metaphors were found to have close relations with Dao,De and Everything.Therefore,translation strategies adopted by Waley and Lin Yutang have been explored in the next step,which aims to contrast their translating effects on metaphors.So as for the investigation of the influencing socio-cultural factors,the thesis respectively examines translators’ "selective adaptation" to the original text and "adaptive selection" to the target translational eco-evrionment on the basis of Eco-translatology.Through comparative analysis,it is found that both Waley and Lin Yutang attempt to spread the oriental wisdom and the splendid Chinese culture to the western readers,arousing their interests in the ways of Chinese lifestyle.Both of them are committed to providing the West with the needed emotional support to soothe their restless souls after the two world wars and they are devoted to lifting the veil of mysticism or mediaeval religion from the English translation of Chinese classics.Both of the two translators have adopted foreignization and domestication translation strategies,and the foreignization takes up the majority of the English version,with a percentage of 80.5%and 56.3%for each version.It is suggested that Waley attaches great importance to faithfulness,and the maintenance of Chinese characteristics,while Lin,aiming at keeping the peripheral translated literature from being expelled,emphasizes great importance to reproducing the neat structures and the metrical expressions of Chinese language,which is exactly a demonstration of his translation thoughts"faithfulness,smoothness and beauty".Inspired by Hu Gengshen’s translational eco-environment and three-dimensional criteria,the thesis aims to investigate the metaphor translations in Dao De Jing.Influenced by their cultural identities,their own expectations and certain social backgrounds,two famous translators in the "selective adaptation" process,are inclined to choose those texts that resonate on them.In a certain period of time,target readers’ needs are another reason.In the meanwhile,in the process of "adaptive selection",this thesis examines the similarities and differences in linguistic choices,Eastern and Western cultures as well as the aesthetic effects and the integrity of a translation in communication.It has been discovered that though there is indeed a missing of metaphor explanations,the two translators uphold the principle of"faithfulness" from beginning to end.With the theory of Eco-translatology,a self-innovative translation theory of vigor in the new period in China,this research strives to provide a new point of view for English translation researches on Chinese classics and metaphor translations,which is committed to being confident in our culture,creating ways for culture export and the continuing increase of the influence of Chinese.