Metaphor Translation:A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

Metaphor has been traditionally categorized as a special form of rhetoric. Metaphor translation theory hasbeen for a long time considered as an issue of inter-lingual transition on the rhetorical level. However, the essence ofmetaphor is to experience one thing through another, therefore metaphor is also semantic interaction of two cognitivefields. From the view ofmodern cognitive linguistics, the traditional translation theory on metaphor hasobviousdisadvantages:It neglects the essence of metaphor—semantic interaction of two cognition fields, and lacks the proper comprehension oftranslation. Language results from people’s organizing the experience of the objective world. Linguistic symbols have nodirect equivalence with the outside world; it is consistent with the interaction between human cognition and concretereality. Traditional metaphor translation is restricted by aesthetic methodology and emphasizes on the transfer of the macropart, but it lacks scientific and systematic demonstration on the micro level. This article analyzes the features of metaphorunder the cognitive linguistic frame, and presents a research into the techniques and strategies of metaphor translation fromthe cognitive approach.