Translation of Metaphor in Reporting the Global Financial Crisis

This study intends to fulfill two main objectives. Firstly, to examine the conceptual and experimental nature of metaphors used in reporting the global financial crisis of 2008. Secondly, to assess whether English/Arabic translators consider these aspects, and if they do, to what extent? It attempts to apply the conceptual theory of metaphor to our understanding of metaphor as well as to its translation. The researcher undertakes experimental observations using the instrument of Thinking Aloud Protocol. The sample of the study comprises sixteen students enrolled in MA translation program at Yarmouk University. The results of the study show that there is a profound relation between a metaphor and its translating process as they are both of cognitive and conceptual nature. The study also found that the codes of the metaphoric texts are crucial as they induce the translator to penetrate through the metaphoric related concepts stretching beyond the text borders. Accordingly, it is concluded that the translation of metaphor is not a rule-given process; rather, it is a matter of retrospecting conceptual and experiential knowledge related to the metaphoric text.