ΜΕΤΑΦΡΑΖΟΝΤΑΣ ΤΑ ΚΕΙΜΕΝΑ ΤΗΣ ΕΥΡΩΠΑΪΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΩΝ

Abstract

IN THE LIGHT OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION AND THE RAPID internationalization of modern reality Public Administration is challenged to operate in a multilingual environment. As a consequence, institutional translation turns out to be a matter of great importance. In this context, the study at hand addresses the issue of metaphor translation. Not only do metaphors be present in institutional texts, but also pose significant translation difficulties because of their cultural-specific character. The thesis focuses on metaphors extracted from a parallel corpus (EN-GR) of European Committee of the Regions’ Texts, trying to identify the tactics followed for their rendering in Greek, according to the model of P. Newmark. The data are then classified into cognitive domains, (Lakoff & Johnson). This allows the fertile combination of qualitative research methods with discourse analysis. The results show that the Greek translations use procedures that retain the metaphors, mainly through word-by-word renderings, and rarely by replacing the metaphor of the source language. However, the prevalence of literal translation leads as a rule to the wide creation of neologisms, that often do not fit smoothly in the Greek language, and sometimes even to the annulment of the communicative function of the metaphor translated. In cases where the translations are not considered functional, other possible solutions are suggested. The main aim of the study is to deduce best translation practices, useful for the Greek civil servant, as well as to articulate proposals for the reappraisal of the translation within the Public Administration in general