Metaphors and Metonymies in the Poem “Santa Maria Della Salute” and Their Translation into the English Language

Metaphors and Metonymies in the Poem “Santa Maria Della Salute” and Their Translation into the English Language

JANJATOVIC, Vera

The aim of this paper is to shed a new light on translation of metaphors and metonymies into the English language. For this purpose, the author has chosen one of the most prominent poems, “Santa Maria della Salute”, written by the famous poet, Laza Kostić. By using the contrastive approach, the author, who is at the same time the translator of this poem into the English language, has endeavoured to give a new insight into the area of translation and semantics. Many examples of metaphor and metonymy will be compared and thoroughly analyzed in order to determine their similarities and differences in both languages. This also represents an attempt to outline the basic components and universality in metaphor. The conceptual metaphors are considered to be largely or mostly universal, more universal than either language or social reality. This paper deals with cultural variation in metaphor, especially its cross-cultural dimension. A general-level conceptual metaphor is, according to Kövecses (2006: 158), instantiated in culture-specific ways at a specific level. Many of our metaphors vary because our experiences as human beings also vary. On the other hand, our metaphors vary, because the cognitive processes we put to use for the creation of abstract thought may also vary. Another important factor for the use of metaphor is the context around us. It includes the physical environment, cultural context and also, communicative situation. All the culturally unique concepts and values that characterize cultures, including the governing principles and the key concepts, make the cultural context broader. For this reason, it was very difficult for the translator to transfer the Kostić’s metaphors adequately into the English language. As much skilled as the translator may be, he or she would certainly come up to certain cultural obstacles which are contained within culture-specific terms.

Article
PeerReviewed

IBU Publishing

2013-05-03

2083