Translation at the Crossroad of Rhetorical Trope: Translating Metaphor in the Light of Relevance Theory

Abstract

This present study discusses the translation of metaphor as a stylistic
element in the light of Relevance theory. The data of the study consists
of three assorted metaphors that have been used in French and their
English translations. These texts have been taken from some published
(Achebe ìThings Fall Apartî (1958)) and unpublished literary material.
The study focuses on the identification and analysis, from the per-
spective of relevance theory, of the metaphorical expressions used
in the texts and explains the translation procedures resorted to by
the translators in dealing with such expression. The study also adopts
the operational framework of metaphor translation procedures based
on the Source Text and Target Text approach developed by Vinay
and Darbelnet (1995) and Showqi (2014). Although no single theory
of translation is able to analyse the phenomenon of metaphor in
translation, the article relies on Relevance theory in order to develop
a view on the translatability of metaphors in literary texts. The
metaphors analysed in this study reveal the thinking pattern of people
in the society. It equally provides a step in the right direction to
understanding the phenomenon of metaphor translation in the light
of relevance theory. We do not propose that our theory is the only
answer to all the challenges of translation. Despite the usefulness of
the theory, the translatorís competence and knowledge are equally
necessary to faithfully render metaphorical expressions from one
language into another.