A Study Of Iconicity Of The Imagery Of Chinese Classical Poetry

This thesis has made a specialized and thorough inquiry of iconicity of imagery of Chinese classical poetry. It analyzes the iconic reflection of imagery by virtue of the manipulation of imagery and iconicity theory, endeavoring to reveal the inherent relationship between form and meaning (or signifier and signified) of various images in poetry.Imagery theory occupies an important position in the interpretation and appreciation of Chinese classical poems. While theory of iconicity is believed to find its richest manifestations of iconicity in poetry in terms of literary genres, since poetry allows the most complicated and innovative use of language. Iconicity offers a perspective for the research of poetic writing and the way that language is handled by poets in poems. As for the methodology, this paper first collects a great number of poems or classical verses and then analyzes them on the level of phonemics, semantics, syntax and discourse. As for the organization, it consists of three chapters: Chapter one employs for reference the previous studies about two theories of iconicity and imagery both at home and abroad, in which such contents as development, definition, classification etc. are discussed; Chapter two and Chapter three are the main body of this thesis: Chapter two is committed to interpret iconic expression of images in light of imagic iconicity, one of the three kinds of iconicity; Chapter three is devoted to diagrammatic iconicity of imagery on the level of vision, sound, syntax and text.Through the study of concrete example of classical poems, we can come to the conclusion that the application of iconicity into the analysis of images in Chinese classical poetry can equip readers with the awareness of iconicity and an enhanced appreciation of ancient poets'fabulous craft of creativity; besides, the thesis also indicates that the form of the imagery in poetry not only imitates objects in the material world, but also the experience, emotions and thought of humans, which can not be underestimated so far as poetry appreciation and translation are concerned.