Cognitive Theory Of Metaphor And Cross-domain Mapping Analysis Of The Artistic Conception In Classical Chinese Poetry

The traditional metaphor theory always views metaphor as a rhetorical device and thus neglects its cognitive function. However, according to Lakoff's conceptual metaphor theory, metaphor is not a merely a figure of speech, but a way of thinking and a powerful cognitive instrument for our conceptualization of abstract categories.In this study, the cross-domain mappings are applied to the classical Chinese poetry especially the poetry of Tang and Song Dynasties in order to explain the artistic conception of the poetry from new perspective.This thesis points out three kinds of cross-domain mappings:the first one is compound schema mappings:the compound schema of one domain is mapped onto the schema of another domain. It is suitable for a single image and a poem whose artistic conception is formed by one image. The significance of the typical images such as willow, moon and chrysanthemum in the poetry is revealed. The second one is image schema mappings:a condensed redescription of perceptual experience for the purpose of mapping spatial structure onto conceptual structure. It is applied to a poem made of several images combined in certain rules. In this paper, the center-periphery schema, container schema, far-near schema and whole-part schema are used to analyze the classical Chinese poetry and its artistic conception. The third one is the pragmatic function mappings:the mappings within one concept structure, and synecdoche mappings allow an entity to be identified in terms of its counterpart in the projection. It involves the mappings between two or more different spaces, so the conceptual integration theory plays an importance role in explaining this mapping.The combination of the cross-domain mappings and the Chinese poetry offers some proofs for the metaphor theory from the perspective of Chinese and it also illuminates the studies of classical Chinese poetry.