Simile and the ways of translation

This study aims to provide an account of similes in English, which serves as the starting point for an exploration of the problems they can pose when translated into other languages. Central to the research are the concepts of ‘translation problem’ and ‘translation strategy’, rooted in the view of translating as a problem-solving process, where the problem identification is followed by decision-making in selecting the appropriate procedure of problem-solving. The two concepts, debated in translation theory, are intended as follows: a ‘problem’ is constituted by adivergence between the source language - culture and the target language - culture; a‘strategy’ is a generalization about typical courses-of-action exhibited by professionaltranslators. Translation strategies are recognized asbeing universal, namely, independent of the languages involved in the translationprocess.