Ethical Considerations in Translating Metaphors

Is there an ethical component in our approach to metaphors? Beside our attempts to unpack the way in which they function in a certain language and the principles that need to be applied in their translation, should our decision be guided also by ethical considerations? The option to simplify metaphorical discourse into direct and explicit rephrasing is always around the corner. However, by getting into the habit of making this decision our default go-to option, aren’t we impoverishing the receptor language and culture, depriving it of ways of understanding and self-reflection that only a metaphorical discourse could provide?

Would a parent teach their children – in a puristic approach to language, understanding and communication – only those elements of language that can allow little space for interpretation? Or rather would a wise parent take their children on the risky but enriching route to understand themselves and their place in the world through a linguistic register that allows the meanders that characterize any metaphorical discourse?

A wise pastor used to give this advice: ‘Raise your children not in fear, but in hope!’ I think we need to do the same in our translation endeavors: we need more hope. We need to hope that by exploring the capacity of a language in the way in which it operates with imagery and metaphors, we are not only faithful towards the original text, but we also recognize the dignity of the receptor people and their language. Their comprehension and spiritual maturity should not be considered as something static, but rather in terms of how their thought, reflection and spiritual life will be shaped and deepened by the text they engage with and by this text’s capacity – through imagery and metaphors – to nurture the soul and remain fresh and powerful from one generation to the next.