《我们赖以生存的隐喻》第一章译文

1、我们赖以生存的隐喻第一章 译文Translate the following material into ChineseCONCEPTS WE LIVE BYGeorge Lakoff and Mark JohnsonMetaphor is for most people device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish-a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is typically viewed as cha

2、racteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action. For this reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without metaphor. We have found,on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordin

3、ary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.The concepts that govern our thought are not just matters of the intellect. They also govern our everyday functioning, down to the most mundane details. Our concepts structure what we perceive, ho

4、w we get around in the world, and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities. If we are right in suggesting that our conceptual system is largely metaphorical, then the way we thinks what we experience, and what we do every day i

5、s very much a matter of metaphor.But our conceptual system is not something we are normally aware of. in most of the little things we do every day, we simply think and act more or less automatically along certain lines. Just what these lines are is by no means obvious. One way to find out is by look

6、ing at language. Since communication is based on the same conceptual system that we use in thinking and acting, language is an important source of evidence for what that system is like.Primarily on the basis of linguistic evidence, we have found that most of our ordinary conceptual system is metapho

7、rical in nature. And we have found a way to begin to identify in detail just what the metaphors are halt structure how we perceive, how we think, and what we do.To give some idea of what it could mean for a concept to be metaphorical and for such a concept to structure an everyday activity, let us s

8、tart with the concept ARGUMENT and the conceptual metaphor ARGUMENT IS WAR. This metaphor is reflected in our everyday language by a wide variety of expressions: ARGUMENT IS WARYour claims are indefensible.He attacked every weak point in my argument.His criticisms were right on target.I demolished h

9、is argument.I've never won an argument with him.You disagree? Okay, shoot!If you use that strategy, he'll wipe you out. He shot down all of my arguments.It is important to see that we don't just talk about arguments in terms of war. We can actually win or lose arguments. We see the perso

10、n we are arguing with as an opponent. We attack his positions and we defend our own. We gain and lose ground. We plan and use strategies. If we find a position indefensible, we can abandon it and take a new line of attack. Many of the things we do in arguing are partially structured by the concept o

11、f war. Though there is no physical battle, there is a verbal battle, and the structure of an argument-attack, defense, counter-attack, etc.-reflects this. It is in this sense that the ARGUMENT IS WAR metaphor is one that we live by in this culture; its structures the actions we perform in arguing.Tr

12、y to imagine a culture where arguments are not viewed in terms of war, where no one wins or loses, where there is no sense of attacking or defending, gaining or losing ground. Imagine a culture where an argument is viewed as a dance, the participants are seen as performers, and the goal is to perfor

13、m in a balanced and aesthetically pleasing way. In such a culture, people would view arguments differently, experience them differently, carry them out differently, and talk about them differently. But we would probably not view them as arguing at all: they would simply be doing something different.

14、 It would seem strange even to call what they were doing "arguing." In perhaps the most neutral way of describing this difference between their culture and ours would be to say that we have a discourse form structured in terms of battle and they have one structured in terms of dance.This i

15、s an example of what it means for a metaphorical concept, namely, ARGUMENT IS WAR, to structure (at least in part) what we do and how we understand what we are doing when we argue. The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. It is not that argumen

16、ts are a subspecies of war. Arguments and wars are different kinds of things-verbal discourse and armed conflict-and the actions performed are different kinds of actions. But ARGUMENT is partially structured, understood, performed, and talked about in terms of WAR. The concept is metaphorically stru

17、ctured, the activity is metaphorically structured, and, consequently, the language is metaphorically structured.7我们赖以生存的概念乔治莱考夫 和 马克 约翰逊对于大多数人来说隐喻是一种诗意的想象机制或华丽的修辞手 法一一常出现在特殊的场合而非日常用语中。 此外，隐喻通常被认为 仅仅是语言的特征，只与文字有关而与动作无关。正因为如此，大多 数人认为没有隐喻他们也能活得非常好。 然而我们的研究发现，与此 相反，在日常生活中隐喻无处不在，我们的语言，思维和行动中都包 含了隐喻。从外面思考

18、和行动方面来说，我们通常的概念系统从本质 上来说基本上是隐喻的。控制我们思维的概念不仅仅与智力有关，它们还控制着我们日常 活动，下至平常琐事。我们的概念构建了我们所能看见的东西， 我们 在世界上存在的方式已经我们与他人联系的方式。 因此我们的概念系 统在定义日常现象的过程中起非常重要的作用。 假如说我们的概念系 统主要是隐喻的，那么我们的思维方式，生活经历以及日常行为也是 隐喻的。但我们的概念系统并不算我们能自然感觉到的。 对于日常生活中 的大多数琐事，我们只是粗略地思考，并按照某种路线无意识地采取 行动。但这种路线到底是什么我们一点儿也不知道。弄清楚这个问题 的一种方法就是观察语言。因为交流

19、和我们思考，行动是建立在同一 个概念系统之上的，所以语言是研究那个系统的重要证据来源。首先，以语言学证据为基础，我们发现大多数普通概念系统本质上是隐喻的。 并且我们发现了能详细定义什么是隐喻的方法。 隐喻构建了我们领悟，思考的方式和行为。为了让读者了解为什么一种概念是隐喻以及这种概念是怎样构建我们日常活动的，我们从 “争论”这个概念和“争论是战争”这一隐喻开始解释。 这个隐喻在我们的日常生活中的许多表达方式上得到了反映：争论是战争你的主张站不住脚。他攻击了我的论述中所有的薄弱环节。他的批评正中要害。我摧毁了她的论点。和他争论我从未赢过。你不同意？好的，开火吧！如果你使用那种策略， 他定会将你彻底消灭。 他驳倒了我所有的论点。重要的是我们不仅仅是从“战争”方面谈论“争论” ， 我们真的可以赢得或者输掉一场争论。 我们把和我们争论的人当作敌人。 我们攻击对方的位置并包围自己