Personification and Translation Challenges

"In this innovative study, M. Shahabi shows how translators should approach metaphors in order to achieve a meaningful and competent translation. In her own words, metaphor is originated and used in order to fill a gap when a concept cannot be expressed economically, thoroughly and clearly, in literal language. She compares animal personification in three languages: English, Persian and Portuguese. Using a cognitive linguistics approach, following Al-Hasnawi & Maalej, Shahabi studies the metaphors implied in the characters of Animal Farm (Orwell, 1945) as examples to debate the virtues of her approach to translation. With great scientific acumen, her comparative study in three languages establishes common patterns and limits to the task of translation. A humorous and inspired work, this contrastive study of the constitutive metaphorical concepts provides translation and linguistics students with a very sound comparative casebook study of the use of animal metaphor in three languages. The examples with transliteration and phonetic transcription make the work accessible and a pleasure to read." Maria Filomena Rodrigues Louro, Associate Professor at the University of Minho, Portugal.