Research on Strategies in Translating Metaphors in the 2024 Chinese Government Work Report

Abstract

Metaphors are widely used in political discourse, which arouses great attention in academic study. The report on the government work, as a paradigm in political discourse, shows a distinctive feature of the times and text by using metaphors to construct a thinking framework for political reality. This paper aims to explore the application and translation strategies of metaphors in the English translation of the report of Chinese government work in 2024. By contrastingly analyzing the Chinese text and its English version, this paper reveals the corresponding translation methods of metaphors in political discourse to enhance the communication effect. In the translation process of metaphor, the translator not only experiences a profound shift from one cultural background to another but also finishes a complex cognitive journey. Literal translation can keep the original cultural elements but may cause confusion or misunderstanding while free translation can convey the meaning briefly and clearly but may lack the original cultural element, weakening the emotional strength of the original metaphors. Therefore, flexible translation methods should be adopted to deal with different metaphors to keep a balance between cultural differences and meaning conveying.