An Analysis Of Novel Metaphors Based On The Relevance-adaptation-blending Model

As a phenomenon widely existing in our daily life, metaphors have beenattracting increasingly more and more researchers’ attention. Scholars have studiedmetaphors from different perspectives. Previous researches on metaphors reveal thatmuch emphasis is put on conventional metaphors; while relatively scarce andfragmentary attention has been paid to the study of innovative novel metaphors.As a theoretical framework of novel metaphors, Conceptual Blending Theory(CBT in short) has unparalleled advantages in the interpretation of novel metaphorsby applying the conceptual blending network to operate on. However, it does notdwell upon how the process of blending happens, i.e. its psychological motivation,whereas the answer can be found in Relevance Theory and Adaptation Theory, withthe former deriving the novel metaphor interpretation by means of seeking for theoptimal relevance, and the latter emphasizing the interpretative process of novelmetaphors being a matter of choice-making and adaptation to context and structure.Thus, based on Relevance Theory, Adaptation Theory and CBT, to develop theirmerits and overcome their respective demerits, a comprehensive andmulti-dimensional model—Relevance–Adaptation–Blending Model (R–A–B Modelin short) is constructed in this dissertation specifically for the interpretation of novelmetaphors.To testify the validity of this model in the interpretation of novel metaphors, anin-depth analysis will be applied. The novel metaphorical expressions selected in thisthesis are chosen from literary works and magazines (mainly from political andeconomic discourses). Based on the taxonomy of blending networks put forward byFauconnier and Turner, this dissertation will mainly apply the single-scope networkand the double-scope network to analyze the interpretative process of the selectedtypical novel metaphors within the R–A–B Model. Each type of novel metaphors ispresented with typical examples. After exemplifying and analyzing the novelmetaphorical expressions based on the R–A–B Model, it is testified that theconceptual blending network accompanied by the principle of relevance andadaptation can better account for the interpretative process of novel metaphors bymaking cognitive and pragmatic analysis, and that the newly-established descriptiveand explanatory R–A–B Model is well qualified for the interpretation of novel metaphors by exploring the elements inherent in novel metaphors and probing into themental mechanism hidden behind the interpretative process of novel metaphors. Thatis to say, detailed and in-depth sample analysis has proved its feasibility andeffectiveness on the interpretation of novel metaphors. Finally, this dissertationreaches the conclusion that this model is advantageous to the other three separatetheories and is also valid and effective in the interpretation of novel metaphors, whichis of great significance for people to better understand novel metaphors.