Idioms are one of the most problematic areas of translation. The difficulties in translating them largely come
from their semantic opacity due to “the metaphorical use of the words they encompass” (Saeed
2017, 489). This study investigates the strategies used in the translation of metaphorical idioms, specifically idioms
with stock metaphors, which have greater metaphorical force and more salient images than dead metaphors. The translation
strategies were surveyed in the two English translations of the classic Chinese novel, Hongloumeng (Dream of the
red chamber). The results show that the choice of strategies is influenced by the relationship between the source language and the
target language, the source text’s status, and the translators’ specific approaches. The images in translated metaphorical idioms
received special attention in terms of their removal, retention, and replacement. An analysis of the functions of strategies is
also presented. The varied combinations of these strategies further attest to the difficulty in translating metaphorical idioms.
Moreover, they also have a role in translators’ style and the effect of the target text.
1987 “Linguistic Factors in Children’s Understanding of Idioms.” Journal of Child Language 14 (3): 569–586.
Gibbs, Raymond W., and Jennifer E. O’Brien
1990 “Idioms and Mental Imagery: The Metaphorical Motivation for Idiomatic Meaning.” Cognition 36 (1): 35–68.
Glucksberg, Sam
2001Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphor to Idioms. New York: Oxford University Press.
Hai, Fang
2003 “Guihua yihua de tongji yu fenxi – Hongloumeng kouyu cige yingyi yanjiu [Statistical analysis of domestication and foreignization: Translation of rhetorical devices in Hongloumeng
].” Foreign Language Research 112 (1): 99–103.
Hawkes, David
1973 “Introduction.” In The Story of the Stone, translated by David Hawkes, i–xlviii. London: Penguin Books.
Kövecses, Zoltán
2010Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
1997Culture Bumps: On the Translation of Allusions. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Newmark, Peter
1988A Textbook of Translation. New York: Tice Hall Press.
Newmark, Peter
2001Approaches to Translation. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Pedersen, Jan
2007 “How Is Culture Rendered in Subtitles.” In
Challenges of Multidimensional Translation: Proceedings of the Marie Curie Euroconferences MuTra
(2–6 May 2005, Saarbrücken, Germany), edited by Heidrun Gerzymisch-Arbogast and Sandra Nauert. 1–18. Saarbrücken: Saarland Museum Modern Gallery.
2022. Bibliometric assessment of world scholars’ international publications related to conceptual metaphor. Frontiers in Psychology 13
Li, Yajie, Muhammad Alif Redzuan bin Abdullah & Ling Yann Wong
2023. A Systemic Literature Review of Translator’s Style in Translation Studies. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Language, Education, and Social Science (ICLESS 2022), ► pp. 80 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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