A Research On Metaphor In Tang Poems From The Perspective Of Cognitive And Relevance Theory

We live in a world which is full of metaphors. It may be safely said that there are many creative metaphors in life everywhere. The traditional study of the metaphor is the viewpoint of rhetoric device, which the metaphor was regarded as a kind of expression involving the transfer of meaning. It was not until the 1980 s, the emergence of cognitive linguistics, which made this phenomenon being changed in essence. The study of Metaphor has been gradually changed from a kind of language rhetoric device to being regarded as a common way of human’s thinking. The Cognitive linguists believe that metaphor is a universal cognitive style and thinking mode of human, which is using a concrete events or experiences to understand and experience the abstract events or experiences.The Poetry and metaphor are inseparable. By way of metaphors, the poet could transmit the unspeakable things which can’t be done in other ways. The using of metaphorical language in poetry can be used by poets to express certain emotions or reflect the understanding of the world. The Chinese poets are particularly good at using metaphor to express the image of poetry. As the most important literary form, the Tang poems own unique value in tone, rhythm and rhyme. As the cross-cultural communication is increasing closely, the Tang poems are gradually introduced toward the world. People have never stopped to spread the poems because of the real beautiful poems really belonging to the whole world.Although some scholars have begun to analyze the construction and interpretation process of metaphor from the perspective of cognitive, yet the cognitive interpretation of metaphors in Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s poems is seldom at the current academic circles. In this paper, the author got the revelation from the closely relationship between the metaphor and poem. Based on the research achievements of predecessors, the author will attempt to make an analysis of Wang Wei’s and Meng Hao’s poems from a new perspective, which is the cognitive relevance. The author will make induction and analysis of universal existence of metaphor Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s poems from the perspective of cognitive relevance theory, so as to master an overview of metaphors in their poems. By exploring the cognitive mechanism of interpretation of the metaphor existed in Wang Wei and Meng Haoran’s poems, the author tries to provide a reasonable paradigm for the understanding of the metaphorical meaning of Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s poems.At the same time, the author makes analysis of cognitive process of metaphors in Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s poems from the perspective of cognitive relevance theory, which will open a new way of appreciating and understanding poetry, especially the readers can get inspiration for the translation and spread of Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s poems. At last, the author hopes that this paper can provide some new insights for the poetic metaphor study and let more human in the world enjoy the true beauty of poems.There are six chapters in this paper, specific as follows:The first chapter is an introduction, which is the brief overview of this paper. The author makes a brief explanation of the linguistic phenomenon metaphor and then points out the reasons why the metaphor is regarded as the research object. And then the central issue of research is put forward. Finally, there is illustration about the theoretical framework, the goal of research, significance and research methods of this paper. In chapter two, the author reviews the study of metaphor both at home and abroad, and makes evaluation about the main theory and achievement of scholars’. And the close relationship between poetry and metaphor is included.The chapter three is the theoretical basis of this paper. The author introduces the main points of the cognitive Relevance Theory. Chapter four is the classification and analysis of metaphors in Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s Poems.In chapter five, the author makes the cognitive interpretation of metaphors in Wang Wei’s and Meng Haoran’s poems, which based on the cognitive mode of the relevance theory.The chapter six is the conclusion of the whole paper. Besides the summary of the paper, the limitations and suggestions are put forward in the end.