Translating Gendered Metaphor in Yoruba – English Discourse: Ideology, Representation, and Cultural Mediation

This article examines the translation of gendered metaphor in Yoruba – English discourse, focusing on how metaphorical representations of gender are retained, transformed, attenuated, intensified, or reframed in English. The study adopts a qualitative interpretive textual design and analyses a purposively selected corpus of twelve interconnected Yoruba proverbial and post-proverbial expressions documented in previous studies. The analysis is guided by Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Feminist Translation Theory. Conceptual Metaphor Theory is used to identify source- target mappings through which women, sexuality, bodily experience, and gender relations are conceptualised, while Feminist Translation Theory provides a basis for examining the ideological implications of alternative English representations. The findings indicate that translation is not simply a neutral transfer of proverbial meaning. Metaphor retention may preserve source imagery, while leaving culturally embedded assumptions insufficiently accessible; explicitation may improve comprehension while increasing ideological visibility; paraphrase may clarify pragmatic meaning while reducing metaphorical density; and contextual glossing may provide a productive balance between cultural preservation and target-reader accessibility. The study further demonstrates that post - proverbial reformulation may alter ideological orientation before translation takes place. It therefore argues that responsible Yoruba – English translation should attend simultaneously to metaphorical structure, cultural presupposition, pragmatic meaning, historical context, and gender ideology.