弗洛斯特诗歌中隐喻的认知研究

VIP免费

3.0 牛悦 2024-11-19 4 4 506.65KB 59 页 15积分

侵权投诉

Introduction

The later half of the twentieth century has witnessed a great progress in the field

of cognitive linguistics, which is initiated by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. In their

monograph Metaphor We Live By, they overturn the traditional opinion that metaphor

is a kind of rhetorical devices in languages. With a large amount of examples in

languages, they argue there are compact coherences between metaphor and cognitive

structure. They think metaphor is a projection of scheme from source domain to target

domain, and man constructs and understands the target domain with the help of source

domain’s structure. Metaphor is omnipresent in our minds, and is the way we think and

communicate.

Metaphor has a close relationship with poetry, in other words, a poem is

constructed by metaphor(s). Therefore, with Lakoff and Johnson’s theory, this

dissertation makes a study of the conceptual metaphors in Robert Frost’s poems.

Robert Frost, one of the most famous American Poet in 20th century, is considered by

many critics as the national poet in twentieth century USA. The distinctive features of

his poems are simplicity, vividness and being rich in philosophical significance. At the

first glance, it seems to depict natural items as tree, flower, wind, bird, season or

ordinary pasture work like mending wall, mowing, planting, picking apples, etc.,

while it goes far beyond those simple things and indicates the deeper philosophical

meanings of life, death, love, relationship between nature and human beings. These

features are tied up with the conceptual metaphors he uses in the poems. For instance,

in many poems, he compares life as a journey, in which one has to go through desert

land, forest, face crossroad, and confront bad weathers and some unexpected

difficulties, moreover, he might feel lonely and cross-eyed, and will never give up

until arriving at the destination. All of these are derived from a conceptual metaphor

LIFE IS A JOURNEY, a conventional way of thinking for ordinary people in

understanding and expressing the abstract concept “life”. The conventional metaphor

is the base that readers have empathy upon a poem with the poet. Generally speaking,

Frost explores the conventional conceptual metaphors into novel metaphors through

extending, elaborating, and combining. For he has not departed far away from the

original ones, his poems are relatively easy to understand and appreciated by ordinary

Cognitive Study on the Metaphors of Robert Frost’s Poems

readers. Metaphor mirrors the poet’s unique way to know and explain the world, i.e.

his weltanschauung. His contemporaries, such as Emily Dickson and T.S. Eliot, also

keep to the principle. Although their poems are rather elusive and difficult to

understand, they are still based on the extension, elaboration, question and

combination of conventional conceptual metaphor, while they drive farther away,

grow much alienated, sometimes even beyond readers’ reach. Their noticeable

weltanschauungs are still on the cognitive platform shared by all human beings.

Although the studies on Robert Frost’s poems are prevalent, it has not appeared

yet to explore the metaphors in them from the aspect of cognitive metaphor studies. It

is a novel and inspiring way to criticize a literary work. The purpose of this dissertation

is to try a new way in literary criticism, and proved poet’s fresh and fantastic

metaphors are derived from conventional conceptual metaphor, and they have an

inherent close relationship with poet’s weltanschauung and life experience.

Chapter 1, which consists of three parts introduces the panoramic background of

studies on metaphor since it is relatively new to many of literary critics,. The

traditional opinion upon metaphor since Aristotle as a rhetorical device of language is

summarized in the first part, which is followed by earlier tendency and later matury of

conceptual metaphor theories as the second part. In this part, the conceptual

metaphor’s definition, mechanism, categorization, philosophic basis, as well as its

distinction with metaphorical linguistic expression are presented. In the last part, it

points out poetic metaphor comes out of ordinary conventional metaphor by extending,

elaborating, questioning and combining.

Chapter 2 consists of three parts, first for the introduction of Frost’s life which is

prepared for explaining its relationship with the metaphors in his poems in later

chapters, second for the present criticism on his poems, the third for the present studies

on metaphors in his poems.

Chapter 3 mainly abstracts the major conceptual metaphors Frost used mostly in

his poems, and they are, LIFE IS A JOURNEY, LIFE IS A CYCLE, INNER WORLD

OF A PERSON IS LANDSCAPE IN NATURE, LOVE IS PLANTING, THE

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POET / POEM AND HIS READER IS MARRIAGE,

PERSONIFICATION, POET IS AN ANIMAL. Each conceptual metaphor, supported

with examples, is analyzed to show how the poet manages to create new metaphors

from the conventional one.

Introduction

Chapter 4 is made up of three parts. The first is metaphor and Frost’s

weltanschauung. From the conceptual metaphors he prefers to employ, one can know

he thinks life is a journey in/to a dark wood; life is a single cycle; nature is not only

close but also indifferent toward human beings; and his attitudes towards poetry. It is

deduced that metaphors in the poems reflect the poet’s weltanschauung with Emily

Dickinson and T. S. Eliot as proofs. The second part explains the relationship between

Frost’s metaphor and his life experience. On the one hand, he has suffered a series of

family disasters, on the other, he has obtained rather high honor in the world. It leads

him to be a pessimistic and contradictory person, which is embodied in his metaphors.

The last part analyses the relationship between metaphor and the poem’s style. The

fewer and simpler metaphors are employed, the more common elements are chosen,

the lower the alienation degree is, and the easier the poem can be understood and

accepted. Frost’s simple and lively style is attributed to his metaphors, which he uses in

a simple way, while it also provide various understanding for different readers.

At the end of the dissertation, conclusion has been made with regard to the

previous research and what further research will be done in the future.

To sum up, the dissertation aims at using cognitive metaphor theory to analyze

the metaphors in Robert Frost’s poems, by abstracting the conceptual metaphor Frost

employs in his poem, and explaining that metaphor reflects his outlook, and be affected

by his experience, and exerts influence on his style. It’s an experiment on opening up a

new angle to read a literary text.

Chapter One General Background of Metaphor

Cognitive Study on the Metaphors of Robert Frost’s Poems

1.1 Traditional Theories of Metaphor

1.1.1 Aristotle’s Definition

It is well-known that Aristotle’s definition of metaphor is dominant in more than

two thousands years and is still influential today. In Poetics he presents it as:

Metaphor is the application of an alien name by transference either from

genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, or by

analogy. ( http://www.identitytheory.com/etexts/poetics21.html )

Aristotle explains the definition further with examples. For transferring a name of a

genus to the species, he illustrates it with “There lies my ship.” for “lying a ship” is

one species of the genus “lying”; for species to genus, he uses “Verily ten thousand

noble deeds hath Odysseus wrought” since “ten thousands” is one species to the genus

“a large number”; for species to species, he employs “With blade of bronze drew away

the life”, and “Cleft the water with the vessel of unyielding bronze”, here “drew away”

and “cleft” both are members of genus “to take away”.

Obviously, Aristotle regards the first three kinds of metaphors as renaming from

genus to species or the converse, or between the species, while the last one is on the

ground of analogy which deserves his further explanation. “‘I explain metaphor by

analogy as what may happen when of four things the second stands in the same

relationship to the first as the fourth to the third’. In other words, the four elements of

the metaphor A, B, C, D are related in such a way that they can be formulated as A: B=

C: D” (Dong Hong-le, 2005: 21) The second can be used in the place of the fourth and

the fourth can stand in the place of the second.

Furthermore, Aristotle interprets metaphor as a renaming and transferring device

and insists it should be restricted in poetry for it may violate explicitness. This

viewpoint sets the later study of metaphor as an added extra of language in rhetoric

limitedly. The ornamental function of metaphor leads Aristotle to believe that only

genius has the unteachable ability to use this kind of rhetorical device. Aristotle’s view

of metaphor has developed into comparison theories later.

Chapter One General Background of Metaphor

1.1.2 Comparison/Substitution Theory

Max Black places metaphor theories in three categories as Vergleichstheorie (the

comparison view of metaphor), Substitutionstheorie (the substitution view of metaphor)

and Interaktionstheorie (the interaction theory of metaphor)(冯晓虎, 2004:2).

The comparison view of metaphor holds the function of metaphor is to present the

preexisting similarity between two entities. “It takes the imputed literal paraphrase to

be a statement of some similarities or analogies, and so takes every metaphor to be a

condensed or elliptical simile” (Andrew Ortony, 1979:28). And in the substitution

theory of metaphor, a new word is introduced in and replaces the original word and

“the entire sentence that is the locus of the metaphor as replacing some set of literal

sentences” (ibid). Here is a classical example: “Herkules is a lion”. From the view of

comparison theory, it is a shortened from of the simile Herkules is like a brave lion;

while from the view of substitution theory, in this metaphor the word “a lion” comes

out to replace the word “brave”, a typical character of the animal, and the replacement

can refresh readers.

To some extent, the comparison theory is a special case of the substitution theory,

because it maintains metaphorical statement can be substituted by an equivalent simile

word. They both have inherited the opinions of Aristotle, considering metaphor as a

rhetorical device and being restricted in literature, especially in poetry; every metaphor

can be replaced by literal sentence; and metaphor can be produced when the

pre-existing similarities in the two entities have been explored. They all agree on that

metaphor is an aberrant phenomenon of standard language and violates rational

thinking.

1.2 Conceptual Metaphor Theory

1.2.1 Interaction Theory

The interaction theory of metaphor, the first shaking of the Aristotle’s authority on

metaphor, originated from I. A. Richards and being developed by M. Black. Richards

thought metaphor was an interactive and dynamic process instead of a static one. He

named the two entities of metaphor as tenor and vehicle, as well as the similarities

Cognitive Study on the Metaphors of Robert Frost’s Poems

between them as grounding.

Black (1979: 28-29) modified and developed Richards’s theory in many ways as,

(1) he retermed Richards’ tenor as primary subject, vehicle as the secondary

subject. At the same time, the primary subject refers to the word or words used

non-literally (also called focus), and the secondary subject to the word / words used

literally (also called context or the surrounding frames)

(2) and thought the secondary subject should be a system instead of an individual

word.

(3) The metaphorical utterance works by “projecting upon” the primary subject a

set of “associated implications,” comprised in the implicative complex, that are

predicable of the secondary subject.

(4) The maker of a metaphorical statement selects, emphasizes, suppresses, and

organizes features of the primary subject by applying to it statements isomorphic with

the members of the secondary subject’s implicative complex.

(5) In the context of a particular metaphorical statement, the two subjects

“interact” in the following ways: the presence of the primary subject incites the hearer

to select some of the secondary subject’s properties; and invites him to construct a

parallel implication-complex that can fit the primary subject; and reciprocally induces

parallel changes in the secondary subject.

Richards and Black’s interaction theory on metaphor set the foundation for

Lakoff’s conceptual metaphor theory in linguistics.

1.2.2 The Conduit theory

Reddy’s conduit theory of metaphor extended Richard and Black’s interaction

theory further. He summarized (1979: 290) the major framework of the conduit theory

as: language functions like a conduit, transferring thoughts bodily from one person to

another; in writing and speaking, people insert their thoughts or feelings in the words;

words accomplish the transfer by containing the thoughts or feeling and conveying

them to others, by listening or reading, people extract the thoughts and feelings once

again from the words. In other words, Reddy regarded the thought as object, language

as container or conduit, and communication as sending and receiving. Here are several

examples appeared in his article:

文档加载中……请稍候！
如果长时间未打开，您也可以点击刷新试试。

下载文档到电脑，查找使用更方便

15 积分 4人已下载

立即下载 VIP免费下载

摘要：

Introduction1IntroductionThelaterhalfofthetwentiethcenturyhaswitnessedagreatprogressinthefieldofcognitivelinguistics,whichisinitiatedbyGeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnson.IntheirmonographMetaphorWeLiveBy,theyoverturnthetraditionalopinionthatmetaphorisakindofrhetoricaldevicesinlanguages.Withalargeamountofexam...

展开>> 收起<<

弗洛斯特诗歌中隐喻的认知研究.pdf

共59页,预览6页

还剩页未读，继续阅读

弗洛斯特诗歌中隐喻的认知研究

相关推荐

开通VIP享超值会员特权

作者详情

相关内容

推荐作者

热门标签

举报选择: