Keywords
Government Work Report
Translation Strategies
Metaphorical Functions
Submitted : 2025-12-16
Accepted : 2025-12-31
Published : 2026-01-15
Abstract
Conceptual metaphors in cognitive linguistics are an effective means of political communication in political texts. They can not only serve as a rhetorical device to enrich the expression of texts but also act as a thinking tool to assist in the transmission and reception of political information. This paper focuses on analyzing the bilingual texts of the 2024 Government Work Report by using AntConc, and studies the working mechanisms of metaphor translation from Chinese to English in political texts. It is found that structural metaphors often necessitate explanation strategies, orientation metaphors tend to entail retention and interpretation strategies, and ontological metaphors demand replacement strategies. It prominently presents the functions and values of the following metaphors: information simplification and screening, emotion arousal and persuasion, concretization of political metaphors, symbolism of political metaphors, and cultural nature of political metaphors, which deeply reflects the importance of the people in political life. Such findings further provide reference for metaphorical expressions in the writing of political official documents at all levels, enhancing the effectiveness of political communication.
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