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- Approaches to Translation by Peter Newmark
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T T H H E E T T R R A A N N S S L L A A T T I I O O N N O O F F M M E E T T A A P P H H O O R R
In discussing the translation of stock metaphors, I propose to list the seven main procedures for translating metaphor. Obviously, many stock metaphors are cliches, but I am now assuming that the translator is attempting to render them as accurately as possible, not to pare them down. “She wears the trousers and he plays second fiddle” may be absurd, but both metaphors still seem to do a good job. Further, in each case I distinguish between one - word and complex metaphors. Stock metaphors may have cultural (cultural distance or cultural overlap), universal (or at least widely spread) and subjective aspects.
The following are, I think, the procedures for translating metaphor, in order of preference:
1. Reproducing the same image in the TL provided the image has comparable frequency and currency in the appropriate register. This procedure is common for one - word metaphors: “ray of hope”, rayon d’espoir; whilst in many cases (for “field”, “province”, “area”, “side”, for instance) the metaphor is hardly perceptible. Transfer of complex metaphors or idioms is much rarer, and depends on cultural overlap, e.g. “His life hangs on a thread”, or on a universal experience, e.g. cast a shadow over. As Francescato (1977) has stated, universals like “head” are cognitive rather than linguistic and languages use different words (e.g. head, chief, main, master) for metaphorical equivalence.
2. The translator may replace the image in the SL with a standard TL. Image which does not clash with the TL culture, but which, like most stocks metaphors, proverbs, etc., are presumably coined by one person and diffused through popular speech, writing and later media. Obvious examples for one- word metaphors are: “table”, “pillar”...
3. Translation of metaphor by simile, retaining the image. This is the obvious way of modifying the shock of a metaphor, particularly if the TL text is not emotive in character. This procedure can be used to modify any type of word, as well as original complex metaphors.
4. Translation of metaphor (or simile) by simile plus sense (or occasionally a metaphor plus sense). Whislt this is always a compromise procedure it has the advantage of combining communicative and semantic translation in addressing itself both to the layman and the expert if there is a risk that the simple transfer of 21
the metaphor will not be understood by most readers. Paradoxically, only the informed reader has a chance of experiencing equivalent - effect through a semantic translation.
5. Conversion of metaphor to sense. Depending on the type of text, this procedure is common, and is to be preferred to any replacement of an SL by a TL image which is too wide of the sense or the register (inducing here current frequency, as well as the degrees of formality, emotiveness and generality, etc.). In
poetry translation, compensation in a nearby part of the text may be attempted (though I am rather doubtful about the artificiality of this frequently recommended procedure) but to state that in poetry, any metaphor must always be replaced by another is an invitation to inaccuracy and can only be valid for original metaphors. 6. Deletion. If the metaphor is redundant or otiose, there is a case for its deletion, together with its sense component provided the SL text is not authoritative on “expressive” (that is, primarily an expression of the writer’s personality? A decision of this nature can be made only after the translator has weighed up what he thinks more important and what less important in the text in relation to its intention. Such criteria can only be set up specifically for each translation and to determine a hierarchy of requirements, all based on a text analysis scheme, as has been proposed by Coseriu (1978), Harris (1975) and House (1977) is in my opinion fruitless. (For the same reason most componential - analysis schemes do not serve the translator but componential analysis does). A deletion of metaphor can be justified empirically only o n the ground that the metaphor’s function is being fulfilled elsewhere in the text.
7. Same metaphor combined with sense. Occasionally, the translators who transfers an image may wish to ensure that it will be understood by adding a gloss Beekman and Callow (1974) quote James iii: “The tongue is the fire” and suggest that the translator may add “A fire ruins things; what we say also ruins things”. This suggests a lack of confidence in the metaphor’s power and clarity, but it is instructive, and may be useful if the metaphor is repeated, when the fire image can be retained without further explanation. (Compare translation labels in inverted commas, where the inverted commas are later dropped).
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