Contents
Acknowledgements
Abstract(Chinese) (iii)
Abstract(English) .......................................................................................................... i v Introduction .. (1)
Chapter One Literature Review (3)
1.1 Research on metaphor (3)
1.2 Research on poetic metaphor (6)
1.3 Research on metaphor of the poems in A Dream of Red Mansions (7)
Chapter Two Theoretical Foundation (9)
2.1 Definition of Conceptual Metaphor (9)
2.2 Definition of Poetic Metaphor (11)
2.3 Differences between Conceptual Metaphor and Poetic Metaphor (12)
Chapter Three Research Design (13)
Chapter Four Cognitive Studies on Metaphors in the Poems of A Dream of Red Mansions (15)
4.1 An Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors in the Poems of A Dream of Red
Mansions (15)
4.1.1 An Analysis of Structural Metaphors (17)
4.1.2 An Analysis of Orientational Metaphors (23)
4.1.3 An Analysis of Ontological Metaphors (26)
4.2 An Analysis of Poetic Metaphors in the Poems of A Dream of Red Mansions
28
4.2.1 Extensions of Conventional Metaphors (30)
4.2.2 Generic-level Metaphors (32)
4.2.3 Image-metaphors (35)
Chapter Five Functions of Metaphor in the Poems of A Dream of Red Mansions (38)
5.1 Textual Function (39)
5.2 Aesthetic Function (42)
5.2.1 Regular Aesthetic Value (42)
5.2.2 Defamiliarization (43)
5.2.3 Classical Allusions (44)
Conclusion (45)
Bibliography ................................................................................ 错误！未定义书签。
Introduction
Traditional scholars regarded metaphor as merely a device of rhetorical flourish or poetic imagination. They held that the function of metaphors is nothing but decorative. In contrast, cognitive linguists believe metaphors enable the conceptualization of one mental domain in terms of another (Lakoff, 1993). George Lakoff and Mark Johnson proposed a cognitive approach to linguistic study. The thesis studies the metaphors in the poems of A Dream of Red Mansions from a cognitive linguistic perspective proposed by Lakoff and Johnson. It aims to find answers to the following research questions:
1. What are the features of the metaphors in the poems of A Dream of Red Mansions?
2. What are the original thinking clues of the writer in utilizing concrete words to describe abstract ideas in the poems?
3. What are the roles conceptual metaphors and poetic metaphors play in the poems of A Dream of Red Mansions?
The subject in this study is significant due to the following three reasons: First, A Dream of Red Mansions is not only one of the four supreme classic literature works in China, but also a widely-recognized classic literature work in the world. Therefore, the study of this novel is of significance and value. Second, there are altogether 201 poems in A Dream of Red Mansions, which serve significant functions in the novel, such as mirroring the social and cultural lives in the feudal society; revealing the inner world and personal features of characters in the novel; and indicating the characters’fates (Li Ping, 2005). The study of poetry in A Dream of Red Mansions plays an important role in the appreciation and study of the novel. Third, in these poems, metaphors of all kinds abound, which play a significant role in delivering the ideas of the poems, and furthermore, those of the whole novel. These metaphors help to strengthen the subject, bring out aesthetic effects and conceptualize ideas in the literature works.
Due to the fact that by now, relatively fewer researches have been conducted on poetic metaphor from the cognitive linguistics perspective, the paper analyzes the metaphors in the poems of A Dream of Red Mansions through cognitive linguistics.
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