A Study On The Presupposition Operating Mechanism Of The Novel Metaphors In Fortress Besieged

Based on the previous analysis of language in the Fortress Besieged,the thesis found that the metaphors in the Fortress Besieged go beyond what traditional metaphors could concern about.Chi'en Chung-shu,author of the Fortress Besieged,uses the metaphor as a method to send communicative intentions and the vehicle,used in this way,bears more specific pragmatic purposes,such as satirizing the social situation by adding humor into the language or aiming at arousing the commons' social conscience.The vehicle in such kind metaphors usually violates against reader's presupposition,hence much cognitive efforts are required for the purpose of better understanding and it always brings unexpected and surprising effects.This kind of metaphors is named as the novel metaphor that full of Chi'en's characteristics.The thesis,from the viewpoint of pragmatics,tries to combine the metaphor with presupposition,hoping to offer a new angle in the research of the language features in the Fortress Besieged.According to the research,it is found that the novel metaphors in the Fortress Besieged are not only bear the cognitive functions but shoulder some particular pragmatics functions.Therefore,the vehicle with dual functions possesses more studying values.What is more,the conception constructions of covert and overt presupposition diversify the distinctions of presupposition,which makes the analysis of novel metaphors in the Fortress Besieged more diversified.Furthermore,it is very important to try to figure out the operating mechanisms of covert and overt presupposition if we want to make clear the communicative intentions,The thesis,by drawing the operating routes,tries to clearly reveal the operating mechanisms of covert and overt presupposition.And the matches process between the novel metaphor and presupposition conditions are clarified.As a result,the communicative intentions of the writer are revealed as well.Most importantly,by focusing 8 most typical cases of the novel metaphors in the book,the author's real intentions of each isexplored,which breaks limitations of mappings between the tenor and vehicle in traditional metaphors and throw much more light on the novel metaphors in their pragmatics value in the Fortress Besieged.The thesis explores the operating mechanism of presupposition under the framework of pragmatic presupposition.According to the contextual factors contained in the novel metaphors in Fortress Besieged,the operating mechanism of presupposition can be divided into covert and overt operating mechanism.It is found that readers can hardly correctly interpret real communicative intentions of a novel metaphors by reading it only once because of its covertness.In fact,the correct understanding of it depends on reader's storage of encyclopedic knowledge concerning about culture and history.Therefore,much cognitive efforts of readers' have to be paid off.Thus the operating mechanism of covert presupposition is revealed.In opposite,if intra-sentential factors in the novel metaphors are obvious enough to help in explaining the novel metaphors then no more cognitive payments are needed.This is how the operating mechanism of overt presupposition works.In the Fortress Besieged,covertness of presupposition in the novel metaphors is chiefly expressed by cultural factors,such as idioms and historical events implied in the vehicle.Moreover,if characteristics of the vehicle match smoothly with the presupposition conditions,it is the overt presupposition while if the match does not work well,then the second match is initiated.In the second match,the real communicative intentions can be acquired after divergences are removed.Evidently,it is necessary to distinct covert presupposition from the overt presupposition of novel metaphors in the Fortress Besieged.Besides,intra-sentential factors in the overt presupposition play an irreplaceable role in revealing the real intentions of writer,which can be observed in contextual factors and conceptual factors.At this moment,the readers cannot be restricted themselves in understanding literal meanings because what the intra-sentential concepts represent has changed.Simply put,the readers are required to broaden or narrowed down the information in metaphors so that the real intentions of the novel metaphors can be focused on and understood by the readers.