ABSTRACT
Until recently, metaphor has been understood only as a decorative device; hence most research was on its artistic aspect. Limited research has been conducted on conceptual metaphors, especially in isiXhosa translation, because of a lack of awareness about conceptual metaphors. This study contributes to existing knowledge by investigating the translation of emotion metaphors in the isiXhosa translation of Long walk to freedom (Mandela 1994), Indlela ende eya enkululekweni (Mandela 2001). Sixteen metaphor-related extracts are analysed using Conceptual Metaphor Theory as the theoretical framework (Lakoff and Johnson 1980/2003), Kövecses’ (2010) emotion terms and the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) (Steen et al. 2010). The translator retained most source text metaphorical expressions and their underlying conceptual metaphors, but translated other expressions using different conceptual metaphors. Differences between source and target text linguistic expressions indicates that the way that metaphoric expressions are rendered in the target text depends on how the translator understood the meaning and role of the source-text expression.
