A Comparative and Conceptual Study on the Translations of Animal Metaphors


Creative Commons License

Ünsal Ocak E., İşisağ K. U.

Social Sciences Studies, vol.7, no.84, pp.2566-2580, 2021 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 7 Issue: 84
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.26449/sssj.3294
  • Journal Name: Social Sciences Studies
  • Page Numbers: pp.2566-2580
  • Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

From a traditional view, metaphors refer to one object in terms of another implying a resemblance between two objects. Challenging the traditional perspective Lakoff and Johnson (1980) have developed a conceptual approach to metaphors in their seminal study Metaphors We Live By. The debates on the translatability of metaphors have been at the centre of research for the last 50 years. In particular, the conceptualisation of emotions becomes a challenge for translators in the process of transferring the implied meaning in the source culture. This problematic translation issue has paved the way for scholars and translators to suggest different strategies in transferring metaphors to the target language. In this regard, the present study aims to comparatively analyze the translations of the animal metaphors and similes expressing emotions in the two target texts of The Virgin and The Gipsy (1930), a novella by D. H. Lawrence. In order to do so, the metaphors and similes conceptualising emotion in terms of animals were identified in the source text and analyzed from Goatly’s (1997) perspectives. Then, the Turkish translations of the data were classified according to Newmark’s (1988) procedures. As a result of the multi-facet analysis, the present study has revealed what animals are utilized to express what kind of emotions in the source text. It has also been observed that the translation procedures adopted by two translators in translating animal metaphors differ considerably in most instances. In Target Text 1, the translator omits 45 % (n = 9) of the data by adopting the procedure of deletion. However, in Target Text 2, 55 % (n = 11) of them are rendered by reproducing the same image in Turkish.