A Study on the English Translation of Metaphors in The Three-Body Problem from the Perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: 《三体》作为中国科幻文学的杰出代表，不仅在国内引起了广泛关注，还在国际上获得了高度评价，其成功在很大程度上得益于作品中丰富的隐喻表达。隐喻(Metaphor)，是人类用于理解抽象概念以及事物的重要机制，文学作品中的隐喻不仅能够增强作品的文学性和艺术性，更是传递中国文化深厚底蕴的重要途径之一。本文基于概念隐喻理论，从结构隐喻类、方位隐喻类、本体隐喻类对以《三体》原文本及其英译本中的隐喻进行研究，主要探讨各类隐喻现象的具体运用、隐喻翻译的翻译策略及其表达效果，对理解科幻文学的跨文化传播具有重要意义。研究发现，《三体》英译本在隐喻翻译中主要采用了意译、直译与省略三种翻译策略。在此基础上，本文进一步分析了译者选择不同策略的认知动因，揭示其如何在中西方认知差异的背景下为目标读者重建认知路径，从而实现跨文化传播的目的。As an outstanding representative of Chinese science fiction literature, The Three-Body Problem has not only attracted widespread attention in China but also received high acclaim internationally, whose success is largely attributed to the rich metaphors in the work. Metaphor is an important mechanism for humans to understand abstract concepts and things. In literary works, metaphors not only enhance the literary and artistic quality of the works but also serve as an important means of conveying the profound cultural heritage of China. Based on conceptual metaphor theory, this paper investigates the metaphors in the original text of The Three-Body Problem and its English translation, focusing on structural metaphors, spatial metaphors, and ontological metaphors. It mainly explores the specific application of various metaphor phenomena, the translation strategies for metaphors, and their expressive effects, which are of great significance for understanding the cross-cultural communication of science fiction literature. The study finds that the English translation of The Three-Body Problem mainly adopts three translation strategies for metaphors: free translation, literal translation, and omission. On this basis, this paper further analyzes the cognitive motivations behind translators’ choice of diverse strategies, and reveals how translators reconstruct cognitive pathways for target readers amid cognitive disparities between Chinese and Western contexts to fulfill the goal of cross-cultural communication.
Source: Modern Linguistics
Author: 晓禄 华
Institution: China University of Mining and Technology
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7203869114