A Cognitive Approach To Metaphors In English Economic Discourses

This thesis adopts a cognitive approach to the comprehension of English economic discourses within the framework of Conceptual Blending Theory which is proposed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner as a cognitive operation and serves a variety of cognitive purposes.This thesis attempts to demonstrate the mental cognitive meaning construction process and offer an alternative perspective on the study of English economic discourses.Conceptual Blending Theory has complete networks, which function independently according to a set of uniform structural and dynamic principles.The basic operation comprises four mental spaces:two input spaces, one generic space and one blended space. In blending, structures from input spaces are selectively projected to a separate "blended space."Through composition, completion and elaboration, the blend develops structures that are not provided by the inputs.With this theory, the hidden cognitive mechanism involved in the interpretation of metaphors in English economic discourses can be revealed. It offers a possibility for cognitive interpretation of metaphors in economic discourses.The whole thesis consists of five parts.Chapter 1 presents a brief introduction to the general framework of the study. Chapter 2 is the literature review of the traditional and contemporary studies on metaphors and the studies on metaphors in English economic discourses from two perspectives.In Chapter 3,Conceptual Blending Theory is exposited, which includes four mental spaces,cross-space mapping, selective projection, and the process of conceptual blending. In Chapter 4, based on the Conceptual Blending Theory, an analytic model is established, which serves as a guide for the analysis of the case study. Based on this analytic model, three metaphors in economic discourses are illustrated from three aspects including Background, a detailed analysis of four mental spaces, cross-spaces mappings, and the emergent structure, and the influence on the social life. The last chapter is a conclusion of the whole thesis in which the significance and limitation of the study as well as the suggestions for future research are stated.