THE SIGNIFICANCE OF METAPHOR AND SIMILE IN TRANSLATION STUDIES

Аннотация

This thesis investigates the translation of metaphor and simile as essential components of figurative language in cross-cultural communication. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of Cognitive Linguistics and Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the research examines how metaphors and similes function not merely as stylistic ornaments but as fundamental cognitive and cultural tools that shape perception and discourse. The study establishes a detailed classification of translation strategies including equivalence, adaptation, and explicitation and develops evaluative criteria for assessing their effectiveness in rendering conceptual mappings across languages. Through a comparative analysis of literary, journalistic, and technical texts, the thesis demonstrates that metaphorical expressions often require creative and culturally sensitive solutions to preserve cognitive resonance and rhetorical impact. The findings underscore the necessity for translators to balance fidelity to the source text with cultural appropriateness in the target language. This work contributes valuable insights to the fields of translation studies, applied linguistics, and intercultural communication by highlighting the pivotal role of figurative language in transmitting not only meaning but also worldview. Keywords: Metaphor, simile, figurative language, translation strategies, equivalence, adaptation, explicitation, cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphor theory, cross-cultural communication, linguocultural competence, economic discourse, comparative analysis, intercultural pragmatics, rhetorical fidelity From a cognitive semantic standpoint, metaphor and simile assume the status of fundamental conceptual scaffolds rather than mere rhetorical embellishments, functioning as mental models that instantiate mappings from source domains (e.g., physical force, biological processes, social conflict) onto target domains of abstract experience (e.g., economic systems, time, emotion). Within the interdisciplinary matrix of Translation Studies which encompasses contrastive typology, pragmatic equivalence, and sociocultural mediation these figurative devices present a dual set of imperatives: they challenge the translator to negotiate cultural encoding and conceptual density, yet they also afford the opportunity to reconstruct the source text’s rhetorical stance, ideological valence, and experiential resonance in the receptor language. 139 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference Building upon Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) and the functionalist paradigms of Pym, Toury, and Katan, this investigation operationalizes a three‐fold strategy taxonomy equivalence, adaptation, and explication to categorize translation techniques for figurative expressions. Through the assembly of parallel corpora spanning literary, journalistic, and technical/advertising registers, each metaphorical or simile‐based construction is subjected to a discursive analysis: first, identifying its conceptual schema (e.g., “MARKET IS FIRE,” “ARGUMENT IS WAR,” “MEMORY IS A SIEVE”); second, mapping the corresponding target‐language realization onto one of the three strategic modes; and third, evaluating its functional adequacy along the dimensions of cognitive resonance (i.e., the extent to which the translated metaphor evokes an analogous mental frame), cultural appropriateness (i.e., acceptability and naturalness within the target culture), and rhetorical fidelity (i.e., preservation of emotive and persuasive force). Empirical findings reveal that direct equivalence — whether through lexical borrowing, calque, or established idiomatic analogues — tends to predominate in high‐impact journalistic and advertising contexts, thereby sustaining the immediacy of the original imagery (e.g., “The market is on fire” → Spanish “El mercado está incendiado”). Conversely, adaptation emerges as the preferred strategy for culture‐specific literary metaphors, wherein source references to local fauna or folklore are re‐anchored to target‐culture counterparts (e.g., “trudged like a camel through the desert of bureaucracy” → Arabic “moved like a tortoise through the oasis of paperwork”). Finally, explication proves indispensable in specialized technical manuals and academic discourse, where niche conceptual mappings demand supplemental glosses to secure semantic transparency (e.g., “memory is a sieve” rendered with parenthetical clarification). On a comparative typological axis, metaphors drawn from industrial and mechanistic domains (e.g., “economic engine,” “gears of democracy”) display high translatability across many Indo‐European languages via literal transfers or near‐calques, whereas nature based similes (“as fleeting as morning dew”) necessitate pragmatic cultural recalibration for instance, substituting cherry blossoms in East Asian renderings to maintain the original aesthetic connotations. Synthesizing these insights yields a set of