A Study On Conceptual Metaphors In Song Lyrics Based On The Theory Of Context Of Culture

The use of conceptual metaphor in song lyrics is closely related to the context of culture. There exist diversity and universality in the use of conceptual metaphor in different genres of song lyrics, song lyrics by different lyricists and song lyrics at different times. This thesis makes context of culture the theoretic framework to analyze conceptual metaphors employed in song lyrics, and representative Chinese and English songs are chosen to collect data for this study. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, the relationship between the use of conceptual metaphors in song lyrics and context of culture is acquired, and the role context of culture plays in the use of conceptual metaphors in the creation of song lyrics is explored, which may well provide suggestions for metaphor study, and song lyrics creation.The research questions in this study are as follows:1) What is the use of conceptual metaphor in song lyrics of different genres?2) What is the use of conceptual metaphor in song lyrics by different lyricists?3) What is the use of conceptual metaphor in song lyrics at different times?A mixed design is adopted in this study, quantitative approach plus qualitative approach. The materials contain 151 songs altogether. As to the first dimension, conceptual metaphors in song lyrics of different genres,40 songs in total are picked out for four genres (narrative, lyrical, scenery and reasoning song lyrics),10 songs in each one. As far as the second dimension goes, three lyricists are chosen as subjects of study and three albums released by them in 1980s are picked out. The third dimension involves 80 songs, classical and hot. They are chosen from Music Websites like Netease Cloud and QQ Music as well as from Top Chinese Music Awards Sponsored by Shanghai (东方风云榜) and Grammy Awards. The songs picked out range from 1950s to 2015 and the time is divided into four periods for research. All the data are counted at the very beginning, with the help of Antconc 3.2.1 to find out the frequency of conceptual metaphors in song lyrics. Then, examples from these songs are picked out for case study. On the basis of the statistics obtained from the counting and the examples from these songs, the relationship between the use of conceptual metaphors in song lyrics and context of culture is expounded, and therefore the use of conceptual metaphors in song lyrics in each dimension is revealed.Several major findings have been generated from the study as follows:Firstly, conceptual metaphors in genres of song lyrics are vital to build a bridge between context of culture and metaphor study, as genres are related to mode in context of culture. Conceptual metaphors differ in different genres of song lyrics. They tend to be more active in narrative+lyrical song lyrics than they are in scenery songs and reasoning songs. Different types of conceptual metaphors play different roles in each kind of song lyrics. However, there is universality among different genres of song lyrics. For instance, container metaphors and orientational metaphors are used similarly among different genres of song lyrics.Secondly, lyricists with different cultural backgrounds use metaphors differently in song lyrics. From the statistics, it is obvious that the only female lyricist Kate Bush uses metaphors a lot more than the two male lyricists. Besides, different nationalities, religions and individual experiences lead to different use of metaphors among lyricists. Similar to conceptual metaphors in different genres of song lyrics, container metaphors also receive minor influence from the difference.Thirdly, as context of culture is synchronic, a synchronic study of conceptual metaphors in song lyrics is carried out. Metaphors in song lyrics from 1950s to 2015 increase gradually. Some metaphors seldom vary with the change of times like container metaphors and orientational metaphors, while others have relatively flexible source domains with fixed target domains such as "love" metaphors and "life" metaphors.In summary, the use of conceptual metaphors is widely used in song lyrics of different genres, by different lyricists and at different times. Different use of conceptual metaphors makes song lyrics more unique, attractive and poetic. However, as context of culture is diverse, the use of conceptual metaphors is also different. For example, metaphors such as love metaphors, life metaphors and scene metaphors are influenced more by context of culture while metaphors like container metaphors, orientational metaphors and personification are barely influenced by it.