Introduction

This introduction presents on overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book leads from metaphor theory to the use of metaphors in the discourse on translation and from there to the use of metaphors of translation in other discursive areas of both the humanities and the natural sciences. It proposes a critical reading of the different theoretical perspectives on metaphors of translation in translation studies and considers some of the main metaphors for translation in the West and in the East. The emphasis is on the use of spatial metaphors in translation studies and on spatial metaphors of translation in cultural studies and postcolonial theory. The far-reaching reappraisal of translation initiated within translation studies and the neighbouring fields of cultural studies, postcolonial theory and gender studies has been slow to impact disciplinary fields. It also deals with the use of the metaphor of translation across a series of different domains of scholarship and research.