A Study Of The Transferred Epithet In Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum From The Perspective Of Conceptual Metaphors

This thesis takes the conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson as the theoretical framework,and selects Mo Yan’s most widely known masterpiece,Red Sorghum,as the research object.The purpose of this study is to analyze the similarities and differences between Chinese translation and translation,and to explore the reasons.The research questions of this thesis include:1)What is the distribution of the transferred epithet in Red Sorghum?2)What are the similarities and differences of the transferred epithet in Red Sorghum and its translation?3)What are the possible causes the similarities and differences of the transferred epithet in Red Sorghum and its translation?The paper adopts quantitative and qualitative research methods.Quantitative research is mainly about the frequency of transferred epithet.There are 253 instances in Red Sorghum,which can be divided into three types: modifiers of human to modified objects,modifiers of objects to modified human,and modifiers of objects to other objects.Howard Goldblatt’s English translation of transferred epithet in the Red Sorghum can be divided into 12 types,which are the similarities between Chinese transferred epithet and its translation.Non-translations show the difference between Chinese transferred epithet and its translation.Qualitative research is to analyze the similarities and differences between the transferred epithet and its translation,then reveal the cultural basis behind it and individual ideologies,so as to analyze the possible causes.The study found that :1)The transferred epithet is widely used in Red Sorghum,mainly in the fourth part,Sorghum Funeral.Modifiers of human to modified objects share the largest part.According to the form of translation,translation can be analyzed by adjectives,nouns,verbs and no translation.2)The transferred epithet is the same as translation in that they are all forms of the epithet,which can be adjectives,nouns and verbs.Among the translations,the proportion of AAN is the largest,because the form of ADJECTIVE + NOUN is the closest to the form of the epithet + the noumenon.3)Differences of Chinese transferred epithet and its translation can be shown from the lack of translations.Non-translations are mainly divided into local dialects,rich details and repeated references.Through the comparative analysis of the transferred epithet and its translation,we hope to help foreigners understand the transferred epithet and make them have a more comprehensive understanding of Chinese culture and Chinese literature.