Translating LOVE and BELOVED Metaphors: A Cogno-Cultural Analysis of La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and its Arabic Translation

This study explores metaphor translation through analyzing Muaweyah Abdel Majeed’s rendition of La Sombra del Viento from Spanish to Arabic. Adopting a cogno-cultural framework developed by Mandelblit (1995) and Al-Zoubi et al. (2007) as well as Newmark’s (1981) translation strategies, three metaphor mapping categories are examined: 1) metaphors of similar mapping conditions realized similarly; 2) metaphors of similar mapping conditions realized differently; and 3) metaphors of different mapping conditions. The results showed that the translator employed the strategy of direct image reproduction in the target language, preserving both conceptual and linguistic elements, exemplified in the first mapping category. The second category utilizes the same metaphor combined with sense to strengthen the image strategy, which balances faithfulness to the original metaphor with cultural relevance. The final category, addressing metaphors of different mapping conditions, employs replacement of the source language image with a culturally appropriate target language image and direct image reproduction in the target language. We propose that despite the differences between the two languages which belong to different families, the cognitive model of love and beloved could be similar between Spanish and Arabic with source domains such pain, suffering, wound, killer and others being prototypical members of this model. This similarity can be ascribed to historical and cultural elements, specifically the interconnected past of Arabs and Spaniards during the Al-Andalus era.