Modern Social Science Research

Conceptual metaphor translation plays a crucial role in the dissemination of China’s international communication discourse. However, existing research has largely focused on the description and prescription of translation strategies, with insufficient systematic explanation of how various strategies achieve persuasion and identification in the target context. To address this gap, this study focuses on metaphor translation in China’s international communication discourse. Drawing on the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) proposed by the Pragglejaz Group and based on interactions with large language models, a total of 735 metaphors were extracted and classified according to conceptual metaphor categories (12 types, including journey, war, human, object, etc.) and translation strategies (image retention, image substitution, and image deletion). Based on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Burke’s rhetorical identification, the paper explores three pathways through which conceptual metaphor translation achieves cross-cultural identification: construction of a shared cognitive foundation, adaptation of target language expressions, and consistency of principled stance. The findings suggest that conceptual metaphor translation is not merely a linguistic transformation, but a cross-cultural rhetorical practice oriented toward audience’s identification, requiring translators to seek a dynamic balance among cognitive equivalence, expression adaptation, and positional integrity.

Conceptual metaphor; Rhetorical identification; Translation strategies; China’s international communi-cation discourse