The Cognitive Functions Of Metaphor In Poetry Construction And Interpretation

The study of metaphor by human being can date from Aristotle who maintains that metaphor is a deviant phenomenon of language and its function is rhetorical and decorative. Guided by this view, for a long time, the analysis of metaphors in poetry has been confined to the field of rhetoric. However, with the development of metaphor study, our understanding on the nature of metaphor has shifted from the former linguistic level to the cognitive level. Now we know that metaphor is a cognitive phenomenon, it is the cognitive device by which human being conceptualizes this world. On this basis, the thesis intends to study metaphors in poetry from a cognitive perspective, with an aim to probe what cognitive functions metaphor has in poetry construction and interpretation.The first chapter of this thesis gives an introduction to the historical development of metaphor, including Substitution Theory, Interaction Theory and Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Due to the theoretical basis position of the cognitive metaphor views in this thesis, the emphasis of this chapter is put on the elaboration of Lakoff's conceptual metaphor theory, including its definition on metaphor, its views on the features and types of metaphor, its interpreting mechanism and its philosophical basis. Through this chapter we can perceive that human being's understanding of metaphor has changed dramatically, that is, instead of viewing metaphor as a linguistic deviant phenomenon, now we take metaphor as a cognitive device. The last of this chapter points out that conceptual metaphor theory is not effective to the creative and on-line metaphors.The second chapter mainly deals with Fauconnier's Conceptual Blending Theory, including its mechanism, types of conceptual blending networks, optimality principles, its application to metaphor and its comparison with Conceptual Metaphor Theory. By comparison it is perceived that in terms of interpreting metaphors CMT and CBT are complementary to each other, that is, for the conventional metaphors the former is effective, while for the creative or on-line metaphors the latter is more forceful. Therefore, in this thesis, CBT is utilized as another interpreting tool together with CMT to interpret poetic metaphors.The third chapter is the most important part of this thesis. Based on the view that metaphor is a cognitive device and a kind of thinking mode, this thesis puts forward that metaphor has two major cognitive functions in poetry construction and interpretation. In the aspect of poetry construction, metaphor functions as a cognitive device for poets to construct poetry, that is, when a poet constructs a poem, in most cases, he will unconsciously utilizes other concepts to construct the concepts he intends to construct, which manifests a metaphorical process. In the aspect of poetry interpretation, metaphorical thinking functions as a bridge joining the poets and the readers, that is, metaphorical thinking enables readers to approach and further decode the metaphors in poetry which embody most of the thoughts and emotions of the poets. In the process of decoding metaphors, according to the different kinds of metaphor, readers could utilize the cognitive mechanism of cross-domain mapping or conceptual blending.The last part of this thesis makes a comparison between the different roles that the cognitive functions and the rhetorical functions of metaphor play in helping readers appreciate poetry. Thus it is inferred that to obtain a comprehensive and deep understanding of poetry, readers should combine them.