A Cognitive Study On Allusions

It is well-known that allusions, as embedded in specific cultures, have rich cultural connotations and background implications, and each allusion has its historical and cultural backgrounds or sources. It is quite clear that the purpose of using allusions either in literary or nonliterary texts is to convey the connotative (or metaphorical) meaning on the denotative (or surface) level of discourse. Therefore, it is important to understand the proper meaning of allusions and make clear their functions in texts. At present, the definition of allusion is not quite clear. Based on Great Chinese Allusion Dictionary (2005), allusions are divided into two categories: one is Story Allusion, which originates from a story; the other is Word Allusion, which refers to the words that have provenance. Story Allusions could be from myths, history, fables or religion. A word or sentence which contains an ancient story or some essential elements of the story could be regard as a Story Allusion. Comparatively to Story Allusions, the definition of word allusions is ambiguous. The allusions analyzed in this thesis are chosen from the famous modern novel Fortress Besieged, including Story Allusions and Word Allusions.Fauconnier has developed the Conceptual Integration Theory on the basis of mental space theory. Our conceptual networks are intricately structured by mental-space mappings, which play a key role in the construction of meaning. In the Conceptual Integration Theory, two input mental spaces are connected by cross-space mapping and are selectively projected onto the blended space. The blended space is set up by selective projection. Thus the new conceptual categorization is built, and, the emergent structure appears.By analyzing the data chosen from the novel Fortress Besieged, this thesis will show how the cross-space mapping models of Conceptual Integration Theory are applied to explaining and understanding an allusion. The analysis is categorized by the types of networks proposed by Fauconnier. There are five chapters altogether in this thesis. Chapter One generally introduces allusion and the purpose of this study on it, which is interpreting allusions from a cognitive perspective within the framework of Conceptual Integration Theory. Chapter Two introduces the definition, characteristics, sources, functions and forms of allusions in detail. Chapter Three is a framework about Conceptual Integration Theory, introducing main terms, principles and types of networks. Chapter Four contains the analyses of chosen examples using Conceptual Integration Theory. The selected examples are analyzed according to the four types of networks. In this chapter, the procedure of understanding allusions is made clear. The application of Conceptual Integration Theory to the analysis of allusions becomes a new proof of the explanatory power of Conceptual Integration Theory. Chapter Five contains a summary about this study and points out its limitations and suggestions for future study.