Interpreting Strategies For Conceptual Metaphors

With the three conceptual metaphor interpreting strategies integrated by Sheng Dandan as the research framework,this paper analyzes the types and resonance values of conceptual metaphors,their corresponding interpreting strategies,and factors that influence the adoption of interpreting strategies in the Chinese to English interpreting of Premier Li’s press conference from 2019 to 2022,with the resonance values showing the proportion of each kind of conceptual metaphors.The paper aims to answer two research questions:1)What strategies are employed to interpret conceptual metaphors in Premier Li’s press conferences from 2019 to 2022 and what is their frequency of distribution?2)What are the factors that influence the choice of interpreting strategies for conceptual metaphor?Based on the thirteen common source domains put forward by Kovecses and the analytical material,this paper divides the conceptual metaphors into 15 categories and found that journey metaphor,war metaphor,object metaphor,water metaphor,circle metaphor,stage metaphor,and weather metaphor are missing in Kovecses’s taxonomy.The thesis discovers that the journey metaphor is the most common in the Chinese transcript of Premier Li’s press conference from 2019 to 2022,and that the most frequently-used conceptual metaphor interpreting strategy is demetaphorization,including the metaphorical expression in the source language is translated as a non-metaphorical expression in the target language,and the metaphorical expression of the source language is omitted in the target language.The paper consolidates previous research findings by proving while choosing interpreting strategies for conceptual metaphors,interpreters are indeed mainly influenced by the text type,cultural factors,interpreting norms in the agency.But it is also found that immediacy,the greatest trait of interpreting,can also impose an impact in the interpreter’s choice.The thesis hopes to provide some reference for novice interpreters in interpreting conceptual metaphors in the Chinese diplomatic discourse,thus enhancing students’ confidence in learning interpreting.