Abstract1： Domesticating translation and foreignizing translation are two different translation strategies. The former refers to the translationstrategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while the latter designates the type of translation in which a target text deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreigness of the original. But what is the translation practice like in China? Do translators tend to use foreignizing methods or domesticating ones? What are the factors that affect their decision making? This paper tries to find answers to the questions by looking into the translation of English metaphors into Chinese.

Key words: domesticating translation; foreignizing translation; metaphor; target

language reader

1. Introduction

"Domesticating translation" and "foreignizing translation" are the terms coined by L. Venuti (1995) to describe the two different translation strategies. The former refers to the translationstrategy in which a transparent, fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers, while the latter designates the type of translation in which a target text "deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreigness of the original" (Shuttleworth &Cowie, 1997:59).

The roots of the terms can be traced back to the German philosopher Schleiermacher's argument that there are only two different methods of translation, " either the translator leaves the author in peace, as much as possible, and moves the reader towards him; or he leaves the reader in peace, as much as possible, and moves the author towards him" (Venuti, 1995: 19-20).

The terms "foreignization" and "domestication" may be new to the Chinese, but the concepts they carry have been at least for a century at the heart of most translation controversies. Lu Xun (鲁迅) once said that "before translating, the translator has to make a decision : either to adapt the original text or to retain as much as possible the foreign flavour of the original text" (Xu, in Luo, 1984: 315).

But what is the translation practice like in China? Recently I have read two articles which show completely conflicting views on this question. In his article entitled "Chinese and Western Thinking On Translation", A. Lefevere makes a generalization based on his comparison of Chinese and Western thinking on translation,

When Chinese translates texts produced by Others outside its boundaries, it translates these texts in order to replace them, pure and simple. The translations

take the place of the original. They function as the original in the culture to the extent

that the original disappear behind the translations. (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1998:14)

However, Fung and Kiu have drawn quite different conclusions from their investigation of metaphor translation between English and Chinese,

Our comparison of the two sets of data showed that in the case of the English metaphor

the image often than not retained, whereas with the Chinese metaphors, substitution is

frequently used. [...] One reason perhaps is that the Chinese audience are more familiar with

and receptive to Western culture than the average English readers is to Chinese culture. (Fung, 1995)

The above conflicting views aroused my interest in finding out whether the Chinese tend to domesticate or to foreignize when they translate a foreign text. In what follows I shall not compare translation by Western and Chinese translators, but rather look into the translation of English metaphors into Chinese.

2. What is Metaphor?

The Random House Unabridged Dictionary (second addition) defines metaphor as "a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literallyapplicable in order to suggest a resemblance." While according to BBC English Dictionary, "metaphor is a way of describing something by saying that it is something else which has the qualities that you are trying to describe."

Peter Newmark defines metaphor as "any figurative expression: the transferred sense of a physical word; the personification of an abstraction; the application of a word or collocation to what it does not literallydenote, i.e., to describe one thing in terms of another. [...] Metaphors may be 'single' -- viz. one-word -- or 'extended' (a collocation, an idiom, a sentence, a proverb, an allegory, a complete imaginative text" (1988b:104).

Snell-Hornby rejects Newmark's concept of the "one-word metaphor" in favour of Weinrich's definition that "metaphor is text" (1988:56). She believes that a metaphor is a complex of (at least) three dimensions (object, image and sense), reflecting the tension between resemblance and

disparity" (1988: 56-57).

This paper will follow the idea that "metaphor is text" which includes an idiom, a sentence, a proverb and an allegory.

3. What has been said about the translation of metaphor?

"In contrast to the voluminous literature on metaphor in the field of literary criticism and rhetoric, the translation of metaphor has been largely neglected by translation theorists" (Fung, 1995). In his article "Can metaphor be translatable?", which is regarded as an initial discussion of the subject, Dagut says,

"What determines the translatability of a source language metaphor is not its 'boldness' or 'originality', but rather the extent to which the cultural experience and semantic

associations on which it draws are shared by speakers of the particular target language"

(1976).

Snell-Hornby takes metaphor translation in the light of the integrated approach. She says that

The sense of the metaphor is frequently culture-specific, [...] Whether a metaphor is

'translatable' (i.e. whether a literal translation could recreate identical dimensions), how

difficult it is to translate, how it can be translated and whether it should be translated at all

cannot be decided by a set of abstract rules, but must depend on the structure and function of

the particular metaphor within the text concerned ". (1988: 56-9)

van den Broeck conceives the treatment of metaphors as a functional relevancy to the communicative situation (1981). Mary Fung also considers translating metaphor as a communicative event which is both interlingual and intercultural (1995).

Different from the semantic, cultural and functional perspectives mentioned above, Newmark holds a more pragmatic approach. Drawing on his practical experience, he proposes several procedures for translating metaphor: (1) Reproducing the same image in the target language; (2)

Replacing the SL image with another established TL image; (3) Replacing the metaphor by simile; (4) Retaining the metaphor and adding the sense; (5) Converting the metaphor to sense; (6) Omitting the metaphor if it is redundant.

Discussions of the subject, especially those written in Chinese, are also pragmatic rather than theoretical. In E-C Translation Coursebook (1980 ) which is the most widely used translation textbook in China, Zhang Peiji (张培基) and his co-compilers summarized three popular methods for translating metaphors: (1) Literal translation (similar to Newmark's first procedure); (2) Replacing the SL image with a standard TL image (similar to Newmark's second procedure); (3) Converting the metaphor to sense (Same as Newmark's fifth procedure).

Based on the methods suggested by Zhang and his colleagues, Guo Zhuzhang (郭著章) proposes five in A Practical Coursebook in Translation Between English and Chinese (1996, revised edition): (1) Literal translation plus explanation; (2) Literal translation plus meaning; (3) Adapting the metaphor; (4) Using Chinese couplets to render the English metaphor; (5) Replacing the SL image with a TL image.

4. How Are Metaphors Translated?

The above methods, envisaged as guidelines for the translation students as well as the practical translators, are quite exhaustive of rendering the metaphor. Which of the methods of translation are actually domesticating and which ones foreignizing? In the following section I will cite some examples of metaphor translation from two translation textbooks, two dictionaries and two articles as the source for the analysis.

4.1 Examples

Examples are cited from: (1) E-C Translation Coursebook (1980) by Zhang Peiji (张培基) et al., (2) A Practical Coursebook in Translation Between English and Chinese (1996, revised edition) by Guo Zhuzhang (郭著章) et al., (3) The English-Chinese Dictionary (1993,Unabridged) by Lu Gusun (陆谷孙，chief editor), (4) Longman English-Chinese Dictionary of English Idioms (1995) by Li Yinhua (李荫华) et al. (revisers of translation), (5) "Free translation, literal translation and word-for-word translation" (1981) by Feng Shize (冯世则), and (6) "Pragmatics and translation" (1994) by He Ziran (何自然).

Example 1

But I hated Sakamoto, and I had a feeling he'd surely lead us both to our ancestors.

但是我恨阪本，并预感到他肯定会领着咱们去见祖先。 (Zhang，1980: 12)。

(My back translation: But I ... he'd surely lead us to see our ancestors.)

Example 2

Hitler was armed to the teeth when he launched the Second World War, but in a few years, he

was completely defeated.

希特勒在发动第二次世界大战时是武装到牙齿的，可是不到几年，就被彻底击败了。

(Zhang，1980: 13) (Back translation: Hitler was armed to the teeth ...)

Example 3

He walked at the head of the funeral procession, and every now and then wiped away his

crocodile tears with a big handkerchief.

他走在送葬队伍的前头，还不时用一条大手绢抹去他那鳄鱼的眼泪。 (Feng , 1981)

(Back translation: He walked ... his crocodile tears ...)

Example 4

Among the blind the one-eyed man is king.

山中没老虎，猴子称霸王。(Guo & Li, 1996: 183)

(My back translation: The monkey reigns in the mountains when there is no tiger there.)

Example 5

Talk/Speak of the devil (and he will appear).

说到曹操，曹操就到。(Lu, 1993: 463)

(My back translation: Talk of Caocao, and he will appear.)

Example 6

Peter does annoy me, coming around here all the time. Oh, talk of the devil! That's probably

him at the door now.

彼得真令我讨厌，老是到这儿来。哦，说鬼鬼到！在门口的可能就是他。(Li , 1995: 118)

(My back translation: ... Oh, speak of the devil, and he will appear.)

Example 7

One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy.

一个和尚挑水吃，两个和尚抬水吃，三个和尚没水吃。 (Zhang, 162)

(My back translation: One Buddhist monk carries water for himself, two monks carry water

together, three monks have no water to drink.)

Example 8

Every family is said to have at least one skeleton in the cupboard.

据说家家户户至少也有一桩家丑。(Feng, 1981)

(My back translation: Every family is said to ... family scandal.)

Example 9

A skeleton in the cupboard/ closet

衣柜里的骷髅, 见不得人的事儿 (He, 1994)

(My back translation: a skeleton in the closet, something not fit to be seen)

Example 10

To carry coals to Newcastle

运煤到纽卡索，多此一举。

注："纽卡索" 是英国的一个产煤中心地，运煤到此是多余的事。 (Zhang, 1980:163-4)

(My back translation: To carry coals to Newcastle, making an unnecessary move)

Example 11

The teenagers don't invite Bob to their parties because he is a wet blanket.

青少年们不邀请鲍勃参加他们的聚会因为他是一个令人扫兴的人。(Zhang, 1980: 162)

(My back translation: The ... because he is a disappointment.)