Comparative analysis of the translations of metaphors into English and Spanish in Xi Jinping: The governance and administration of China from the perspective of Skopos theory.

Abstract

The series of publications, Xi Jinping: The Governance and Administration of China, has developed an important role for the study and understanding of Xi Jinping's thought on socialism with Chinese peculiarities of the new era and makes a great contribution to the international community to learn about contemporary China and the Communist Party of China. Therefore, the quality of its translation, into numerous languages, has huge impacts and plays a key role in whether or not it can tell well what is happening in China and convey China's voice well. The use of different types of metaphors has been a distinctive feature in President Xi Jinping's speeches. However, some metaphors, with Chinese characteristics or peculiar cultural backgrounds, would be difficult for foreign readers to understand due to cultural disparities. Therefore, the strategies of metaphor translation, which play a key role in cross-cultural exchange, would be quite essential to remove the obstacles of understanding. In this paper, under the Skopos theory, we make a comparison between Spanish and English translations of metaphors by analyzing their respective strengths and weaknesses, with the purpose of offering some useful tips for the improvement of Spanish and English versions, as well as for the translation of metaphors in political speeches.