Translation studies and metaphor studies: Possible paths of interaction between two well-established disciplines

The objects of study of these two disciplines are etymological cognates, the
meaning that lies at the heart of both translation and metaphor being that of transfer. The study of metaphor in translation therefore involves tackling the complexities of a double act of transfer through the use of methodologies that are correspondingly subtle. The article aims to investigate what the disciplines of translation studies and metaphor studies have in common and what the potential for interdisciplinary research might be. As argued by Israel (2011), having absorbed numerous research models and approaches from other disciplines over the last few decades, translation studies is in a strong position to share its insights and perspectives with these same disciplines. In the case of research into metaphor in translation, although the centres of gravity of translation studies and metaphor studies are rather different there is great potential for a two-way interaction between these two disciplines. On the one hand, it is now virtually inconceivable that a study of metaphor in translation should not take full account of work by scholars specialising in metaphor studies. On the other hand, translation studies can provide metaphor scholars with mono-, bi- and even multilingual data from its case studies to supplement their own descriptive work.
There do of course exist a number of caveats regarding the compatibility of material from the two disciplines. However, in many cases the result of such research has been work worthy of the attention of scholars working within both disciplines. The article focuses specifically on text-based research but is of relevance to other approaches as well.