Metaphor and Translation

Journal of Pragmatics 36 (2004) 1253–1269

Metaphor and translation: some implications of a cognitive approach
¨ Christina Schaffner*
School of Languages and European Studies, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK Received 5 June 2003; received in revised form 12 September 2003; accepted 8 October 2003

Abstract Metaphor has been widely discussed within the discipline of Translation Studies, predominantly with respect to translatability and transfer methods. It has been argued that metaphors can become a translation problem, since transferring them from one language and culture to another one may be hampered by linguistic and cultural differences. A number of translation procedures for dealing with this problem have been suggested, e.g., substitution (metaphor into different metaphor), paraphrase (metaphor into sense), or deletion. Such procedures have been commented on both in normative models of translation (how to translate metaphors) and in descriptive models (how metaphors have been dealt with in actual translations). After a short overview of how metaphor has been dealt with in the discipline of Translation Studies, this paper discusses some implications of a cognitive approach to metaphors for translation theory and practice. Illustrations from authentic source and target texts (English and German, political discourse) show how translators handled metaphorical expressions, and what effects this had for the text itself, for text reception by the addressees, and for subsequent discursive developments. # 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Conceptual metaphor; English; French; German; Metaphorical expression; Translation Studies

1. Introduction Metaphor, as a typical feature of communication, presents a challenge for translation too, both for the practising translator and for its treatment in the discipline of Translation Studies. In the literature on translation, the two main issues have been, firstly, the

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(co-edited with Andreas Musolff and Michael Townson, 1996), Translation and Quality (1997), Translation and Norms (1999), Translation in the Global Village (2000), Developing Translation Competence (co-edited with Beverly Adab, 2000).