Translating Metaphors in Political Speeches from English to Arabic: Strategies and Procedures

Abstract

This study investigates the metaphors’ translation from English to Arabic in political speeches, with the aim of identifying the metaphor translation procedures employed. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, the research analyzed the translation of 82 English source language (SL) metaphors into Arabic target language (TL), employing Newmark's Metaphor Translation Procedures as a framework. The findings reveal that while certain SL metaphors have direct equivalents in Arabic, the Arabic translator introduced two new variants or procedures (H1 and H2). Appropriate metaphors’ selection in the TL is found to be affected by all of cultural as well as linguistic factors, in addition to text type and metaphor class. The study sheds light on how translators in the TL effectively address linguistic and cultural challenges during metaphor translation, offering valuable insights into the process of English-Arabic translation. Accordingly, Future studies are is recommended to comprehensively analyze metaphor translation in the political discourse context.