Conceptual Blending As A Cognitive Means Of Meaning Construction In Jueju Text

The purpose of this dissertation is to verify that conceptual blending (also called conceptual integration or blending), proposed by Fauconnier and Turner, is a general cognitive operation and serves a variety of cognitive purposes. By applying blending to meaning construction in Juejue text, this dissertation attempts to demonstrate the generalization of blending at literary level of cognitive operation, and offer an alternative perspective on interpretation of this pithy and expressive Chinese classic poem. With three poets and ten poems chosen as data for analysis,the application of blending theory is to be fulfilled in the light of central features which are centered around cross-space mapping, and integration networks whose classification is dominated by projection of the organizing frame. Based on the analysis, we can conclude that the meaning construction in Jueju text involves five kinds of mapping and one type of mental space construction. Cross-space mapping in Jueju text consists largely of mapping with one hidden input, mapping in sharp contrast, metaphorical mapping, analogical mapping and embedded mapping. One type of mental space construction concerning Base, Viewpoint, and Focus, helps to understand the meaning construction in some Jueju text. Moreover, the hidden cognitive process of meaning construction in Jueju text can be to some extent revealed by analyzing the distribution of the four integration networks, that is, simplex networks, mirror networks, single-scope networks, and double-scope networks. As the data analysis suggests, non-linguistic information plays a critical role in applying blending theory to meaning construction.