DefinePK

Abstract

Metaphor is a fundamental mechanism of language and thought, and its (re)creation in literary translation is essential for transmitting cultural and national meanings across languages. This study examines how conceptual metaphors function within artistic discourse and how their accurate transfer preserves an author’s intent, worldview, and cultural resonance. The aim of this study is to theorize and illustrate how conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual integration can guide the faithful re-creation of metaphors across languages while retaining their semantic depth and cultural significance. A qualitative, integrative  research methodology was adopted, combining philosophical–cognitive synthesis with comparative analysis and close reading of selected literary texts. Special attention was given to national-cultural symbolism and pragmatic/axiological constraints. The study reveals that metaphors encode national identity and worldview; categorizing metaphors (ontological, orientational, structural) and modeling blends improves interpretive coherence and reduces cognitive dissonance in translation; and culturally marked metaphors, especially animal and mythic symbols, require strategies beyond literal substitution to preserve function and effect. The results contribute to translator training, culturally informed lexicography, and pedagogy in cognitive stylistics, supporting principled decisions between preservation, adaptation, and explicitation strategies. The study draws on a limited set of languages and case studies; future work should employ corpus-based and psycholinguistic methods to test these results.