Cover not available
Article published In:
Metaphor in Education: A multilingual perspective
Edited by Katrin Ahlgren, Anne Golden and Ulrika Magnusson
[Metaphor and the Social World 11:2] 2021
► pp. 212–234

Learner translation of metaphor

Smooth sailing?

| Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences,
| Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences,
This article explores metaphor translation strategies of novice translators: university students translating from L1 Norwegian to L2 English. We first describe the translation strategies they employ in their translated texts, thereby offering evidence of what translators do with metaphor based on multiple translations of the same metaphor-dense source text. We then go beyond this descriptive analysis to discuss why these translators make their particular choices, analyzing the students’ in-class discussion and individual written reflections about their translations. We thus illuminate the challenges that the novice translators consciously perceive (that is, is metaphor a problem?), as well as their motivation for and evaluation of their translation solutions. In this way, we shed light on the concept of the ‘successful’ translation of metaphor.
Keywords: learner translation, metaphor in translation, MIPVU, translation corpus, translation process, horoscopes
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
  • 3.Data and methodology
    • 3.1The Norwegian source text
    • 3.2Metaphor identification
    • 3.3Categorization of metaphor translation strategy
    • 3.4Observation and student comments
  • 4.Product-based findings: What translators do with metaphor
    • 4.1ST-based strategies
      • 4.1.1M→M translation strategy
      • 4.1.2M→M2 translation strategy
      • 4.1.3M→Non translation strategy
      • 4.1.4M→Ø translation strategy
    • 4.2TT-based strategies
      • 4.2.1Non→M translation strategy
      • 4.2.2Ø→M translation strategy
  • 5.Process-based findings: Why translators do what they do with metaphor
    • 5.1Three main factors that shape translations
    • 5.2Culture-specific metaphors
  • 6.Concluding thoughts
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 12 October 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.00016.nac
References (22)
References
Baker, M. (2018). In other words: A coursebook on translation. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bayer-Hohenwarter, G. (2010). Comparing translational creativity scores of students and professionals: Flexible problem-solving and/or fluent routine behaviour? In S. Göpferich, F. Alves, & I. M. Mees (Eds.), New approaches in translation process research (pp. 83–111). Frederiksberg: Samfundslitteratur.Google Scholar
Bowker, L., & Bennison, P. (2003). Student Translation Archive: Design, development, archive. In F. Zanettin, S. Bernardini, & D. Stewart (Eds.), Corpora in translator education (pp. 103–118). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dagut, M. B. (1987). More about the translatability of metaphor. Babel, 33(2), 77–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eggins, S. (2004). An introduction to systemic functional linguistics (2nd ed.). London, UK: Continuum International Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Harvey, K. (1995). A descriptive framework for compensation. The Translator, 1(1), 65–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jääskeläinen, R. (2012). Translation psychology. In Y. Gambier & L. van Doorslaer (Eds.), Handbook of translation studies (Vol 3) (pp. 191–197). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jensen, A. (2017). Coping with Metaphor: A cognitive approach to translating metaphor. HERMES – Journal of Language and Communication in Business, 18(35), 183–209. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kamenická, R. (2014). Descriptive clashes: Between standardisation and dynamisation of translated description. In D. R. Miller & E. Monti (Eds.), Tradurre figure / Translating figurative language (pp. 203–213). Bologna: CeSLiC.Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Nacey, S. (2013). Metaphors in learner English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2017). Metaphor in multiple learner corpus translations. In P. D. Haan, R. D. Vries, & S. V. Vuuren (Eds.), Language, learners and levels: Progression and variation (pp. 227–252). Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses Universitaires de Louvain.Google Scholar
Nacey, S., Greve, L., & Falck, M. J. (2019). Linguistic metaphor identification in Scandinavian. In S. Nacey, A. G. Dorst, T. Krennmayr, & W. G. Reijnierse (Eds.), Metaphor identification in multiple languages: MIPVU around the world (pp. 138–158). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Newmark, P. (1988). A textbook of translation. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.Google Scholar
Philip, G. (2019). Metaphorical reasoning in comprehension and translation: An analysis of metaphor in multiple translations. In A. M. Piquer-Píriz & R. Alejo-González (Eds.), Metaphor in foreign language instruction (pp. 131–148). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
R Core Team. (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from [URL]
Schäffner, C., & Shuttleworth, M. (2013). Metaphor in translation: Possibilities for process research. Target, 25(1), 93–106. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shuttleworth, M. (2014). Translating studies and metaphor studies: Possible paths of interaction between two well-established disciplines. In D. R. Miller & E. Monti (Eds.), Tradurre figure / Translating figurative language (pp. 53–65). Bologna: CeSLiC.Google Scholar
Steen, G. J. (2014). Translating metaphor: What’s the problem? In D. R. Miller & E. Monti (Eds.), Tradurre figure / Translating figurative language (pp. 11–24). Bologna: CeSLiC.Google Scholar
Steen, G. J., Dorst, A. G., Herrmann, J. B., Kaal, A. A., Krennmayr, T., & Pasma, T. (2010). A method for linguistic metaphor identification: From MIP to MIPVU. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toury, G. (2012). Descriptive translation studies – and beyond (2nd ed.). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Gebbia, Chiara Astrid
2023. Translator learners' strategies in local and textual metaphors. Frontiers in Communication 8 DOI logo
Gebbia, Chiara Astrid
2023. Creativity and Metaphor Translation Competence: The Case of Metaphorical Puns. In Language in Educational and Cultural Perspectives [Second Language Learning and Teaching, ], ► pp. 151 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.