Les enjeux du débat sur l’(in)traduisibilité de la métaphore

Translation of metaphor presents both practical and theoretical problems. Within translation theory, metaphor has often been studied in terms of (un)translatability, which, in turn, has been treated as part of general (un)translatability. This paper examines representative views in this debate, which have been particularly vigorous in the journal Babel. The analysis focuses on three main issues at stake : the classification of metaphor, categories and their translatability, and the (un)translatability of metaphor. The analysis demonstrates that the conceptions of translation and metaphor constitute the pivotal point of the debate. Translation and metaphor have been understood as substitutive notions (A in place of B), according to which translation represents substitution of one linguistic unit by another and metaphor, a substitution of a literal meaning by a figurative meaning. A critical analysis of this conception shows that this static framework view has limitations when describing the dynamic processes of real language usage involving translation and metaphor.