Context Embedding And Context Construction–A Language-philosophical Study Of Poem Recitations In Zuozhuan

This thesis takes a corpus of 30 poem recitation cases in Zuozhuan to explore the meaning generating mode of Zuozhuan poem recitations from the languagephilosophical perspective.The author intends to answer the following research questions:(1)What poems are chosen from The Book of Poetry by the interlocutors in the poem-reciting activities recorded in Zuozhuan?(2)How do these recited poems perform their meaning functions in their contexts of use in Zuozhuan?(3)Why are these poems recited to perform their meaning functions in these contexts?On the basis of former scholars' studies,the author constructs a meaning generating triangle,hoping to help explain the meaning generating mode of Zuozhuan poem recitations.The meaning generating triangle holds that interaction between meaning and the context of the original poems(the source context)has to depend on the participation of the context that poems are used(the target context).Part of the source context is embedded in the target context and the target context is reconstructed,the process of which can be regarded as a process of meaning generation.With the guidance of this framework,the author studies cases of the 68 poems in Zuozhuan and divides these poems into two kinds according to the two contexts: those with similarities and those with differences.After a detailed analysis,she arrives at the conclusion that the similarity between the source context and the target context decides how much of the source context should be embedded in the target context.First,the author explores the circumstance in which the source context and the target context share few similarities.Suppose too many differences will lead to the failure of diplomatic activities.Since little of the source context should be embedded in the target context,we can regard it as a defamiliarizing handling.By means of an analysis of poem recitations in Zuozhuan,the author finds that differences won't necessarily lead to diplomatic failures.Instead,as long as the author can defamiliarize the source context and reconstruct the target context,proper meaning can be generated to facilitate the success of communication.Then,the author considers the situation of too many similarities.The study finds that similarities won't necessarily bring in the success of diplomacy.If the interpreter cannot embed the source context in the target context and construct the target context,meaning won't be generated as we imagine.On the contrary,if the interpreter can reconstruct the target context on the basis of the source context,suitable meaning can be produced,and the communication will be a success.This thesis draws the conclusion that the similarities and differences between the source context and the target context contribute to the defamiliarizing or embedding handling of the source context.In addition,a target context will be reconstructed and a virtual context will be produced,during the process of which poems can generate suitable meaning meeting the needs of communication and meanwhile lay a foundation for the success of communication.Therefore,the embedment and construction of the target context play a vital role in the meaning generating process of poem recitations in Zuozhuan and reported speech.