| Abstrakt: |
According to Lakoff and Johnson, metaphors allow an insight into the concepts that govern our thoughts. Looking at metaphors used to describe the product, process or agent of translation can provide insights into the concepts of translation that prevail at a particular time - and into the changes those concepts undergo. The article analyses two particular images in this regard which have been employed by translators themselves or by theorists in different centuries: The image of translation as movement between distant points, and the image of translation as a bridge and the translator as bridge builder. The way in which these spatial images have been used over time reflects a revaluation of the space between languages and cultures. Once a distance defined predominantly by the necessity to be mastered and overcome with the help of translators, the ›in-between‹ now has become inhabitable, albeit as a space that resists firm definition and demands an ongoing renegotiation of (fleeting or transitory) identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
