Functions And Applications To Conceptual Blending Theory In Cognitive Poetics

Cognitive poetics which integrates linguistics and literature is a new discipline.It is mainly based on cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology. Cognitivepoetics not only attends the literary text, but also emphasizes the interaction andcommunication between readers, authors and texts during the reading process. It is there-evaluation of the whole literary activity. This new poetics has been influencingnearly every area of human discipline significantly and regarded as another “cognitiverevolution” after the linguistic turn.The unique attraction of cognitive poetics initiates interest of scholars. More andmore scholars begin to deeply study the relevant issues of cognitive poetics, such asthe introduction of cognitive poetics, the application and modification of the theories.However, the functions of relevant theories in cognitive poetics have not beendiscussed systematically. Although a kind of theory has already includedcorresponding functions and values, touching upon a specific subject, there indeedexist some differences. Therefore, differentiating these functions will be benefited tothe further development of cognitive poetics.Poetics can be regarded as a special way of cognition and communication. Theliterary language implies among lines and touches the thought of human being.Referring to poetry, poetic images will be certainly brought to mind. In psychology ofliterature and art, image is thought to be only imaginative, which embodies particularideas and emotions of the artist (Jin Kaicheng,1999, p.49). Cognitive psychologyand cognitive linguistics define it as “mental representation of perception”(Wang Yin,2006, p.175), also adopting the terms “image”,“mental image” or “mental imagery”to refer to it. However, the dynamic cognitive process of how images in poetry will beunderstood by readers on earth has not been interpreted at large.Conceptual blending theory is a kind of cognitive theory developed from mentalspace theory. It is also a theoretical framework used to explore the informationblending in the process of meaning construction. The conceptual blending runs in a network with four spaces: two input spaces, one generic space and one blended space.During the blending process, firstly elements and structures from the two input spacesset up the cross-mapping, and then they are projected onto the blended spaceselectively, finally through operations of composition, completion and elaboration，anemergent structure is formed in the blend. With the emergent structure, thepsychological mechanism about the process of understanding the poetic imagery willbe revealed.