2.2 The definition of metaphor

There are many different views about metaphor. “The metaphor, that is, the word(s) used in the image, is rooting out, and the sense, which shows in what particular aspects the object and the image are similar, is an eliminate” (Shaffner 1256). “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” (Shaffner 1253). Thus, people have put forward plenty of translation procedures to deal with this problem. Such methods have been commented on both the discussion of how to translate metaphors and how metaphors have been dealt with in actual translations. For Dagut, a metaphor is an “inpidual flash of imaginative insight”, a creative product of violating the linguistic system, and as such, highly culture specific (Dagut 22).        

2.2 The translation of metaphor

When it comes to translation, Vermeer defines translation as “production of a TT which is appropriate for its special purpose” in his ‘skopos theory’ (Vermeer 196). While the Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) aim at the description of translating and translations “as they manifest themselves in the world of our experience” (Holmes 71). DTS and postmodern theories thus define translation as norm-governed behavior (Toury 195) and a cultural political practice (Venuti 197).

Metaphor, as a typical feature of communication, presents a challenge for translation too, both for practicing translators and for its treatment in the discipline of translation Studies (Shaffner 1253). Moreover, in the translation of official documents, firstly, the translatability of metaphors and the elaboration of potential procedures, secondly, the retaining of the characteristic of metaphor, and thirdly, connecting Chinese with English with relevant cultural images. The last one is making up for the missing cultural metaphor. In most cases, the argument is based on a traditional understanding of metaphor as a figure of speech, as linguistic expression which is taken placed by another expression whose function is mainly the stylistic embellishment of the text. It is only recently that a cognitive approach to metaphor has been applied to translation studies. In addition, cultural differences between the Source Language (ST) and the Target Language (TT), and between source culture and target culture, have often been mentioned as problems for the translation of metaphors (Schaffner 1266).  The purpose of translation is to convey the information in another language that corresponds with the source language. Culture exists in specific context. Translation is a kind of cultural exchange between the two texts and culture-loaded words are the vocabulary which can best embody the cultural information that a language carries, so if you want to know the culture of that language speaking country, the translation of culture-loaded words can be never underestimated. Chinese culture-loaded words carry the distinctive culture of China and foreigners who want to know China well need to have a better understanding of its cultural implications.