Translation and Conceptual Integration

Author: Wang Bin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-22
Features: This book provides new definitions for the concepts of "translation" and "meaning." "Meaning" has traditionally been regarded as something objective and external, regardless of whether its form is concrete or abstract. "Translation" has been taken for granted as the projection of the objective meaning of the original text into the translation, a metaphorical construction where functional equivalence is central. However, contemporary cognitive semanticists argue that "meaning" is neither an external objective form nor an internal subjective consciousness, but rather a real-time construction. It is the result of integrating people's current perceptual information and conceptual information with more abstract, long-term experiential framework structures. "Translation," in terms of its process, can be understood as an integrated process of concepts and language in both the source and target languages; in terms of its outcome, it is the result of integration in a third space.