A Study Of The Cognitive Processes Of Sarcastic Utterances In Fortress Besieged From The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theory

Sarcasm refers to the use of witty or sharp language in order to mock or convey scorn.So far,many scholars have made systematic researches on sarcasm mainly from the perspective of rhetoric,semantics and pragmatics,which have yielded fruitful results.All these studies,however,cannot reveal the online dynamic cognitive process of sarcasm.Based on the mental spaces,Fauconnier & Turner propose the Conceptual Blending Theory maintaining that meaning construction is conducted in the conceptual integration network which contains mental spaces.The Conceptual Blending Theory has strong explanatory power which has a wide application in many research fields.Distinct from traditional cognitive linguistics which employs a static method to study meaning construction of language phenomenon,the Conceptual Blending Theory provides a solid theoretical basis for interpreting the dynamic cognitive mechanism behind the meaning of sarcasm.The present study will make a detailed analysis of the interpretation mechanism of sarcastic utterances extracted from Fortress Besieged in light of Conceptual Blending Theory.This thesis plans to answer the following three questions: 1)What are the expression forms of sarcasm and how does the addressee identify the utterance sarcastic during the conversation.2)What are the requisite factors during the cognitive comprehension of sarcasm if the addressee wants to have a better understanding of the intended sarcastic meaning.3)Once people have identified the sarcastic nature,how can they grasp the intended sarcastic meaning.The first issue to be worked out is how to recognize a sarcastic utterance.Based on the definition and features of sarcasm,the addressee identifies the sarcastic utterances.The derogatory intention of the speaker is an important feature of sarcasm.And then the essential factors needed in the process of understanding the sarcastic meaning are listed,which include the addressee's essential ability,shared background knowledge and context.The three factors function as the essential basis of comprehending the sarcastic utterances.The focus is placed on the application of CBT to sarcasm interpretation.This thesis adopts qualitative approaches to interpret the process of cognitive comprehension of sarcastic utterances extracted from the Fortress Besieged.According to different types of conceptual blending networks,the sarcastic utterances are classified into four types of network models,that is,simplex network,mirror network,single-scope network and double-scope network.And then the author will extract two sarcastic utterances in each type of network and apply the CBT to analyze the process of meaning construction of sarcasm,that is,the construction of mental spaces,selective projections,cross-space mappings and the emergent structure in the blend.In a word,this present study illustrates the meaning construction of sarcasm,reveals the unconscious dynamic blending process in the comprehension of sarcasm,and confirms the great cognitive and explanatory power of Conceptual Blending Theory.In a nutshell,the present study demonstrates the feasibility of applying CBT to the sarcastic meaning construction in literary work which is a preliminary attempt.In addition,the present study offers a new dimension for sarcasm study,especially mechanism by which sarcasm is constructed and interpreted.