A Cognitive Study Of Poetic Metaphor Based On Conceptual Metaphor

Metaphor is always an important research topic in linguistics and other fields,especially in Cognitive Linguistics.Poetry and metaphor have a close relationship.Poetic metaphor is an important research objective in both metaphor research and poetry research.Lakoff and Johnson(1980)put forward the Conceptual Metaphor Theory,providing traditional metaphor research with a new cognitive perspective.Lakoff and Turner include poetic metaphor in the theoretical framework of conceptual metaphor,and put forward four modes of poetic thought by which poetic metaphor is formed and works based on the basic conceptual metaphor.Su Shi is one of the greatest poets in China.His poetry is an important part of Chinese poetry.Within the framework of Lakoff and Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor theory and Lakoff and Turner's poetic metaphor theory,by the case study of Su Shi's poetry,this study mainly aims to explore the features of poetic metaphor and to expound how poetic metaphor is formed and works by means of poetic thought on the basis of basic conceptual metaphor.Through the detailed cognitive analysis of metaphorical expressions in Su Shi's poems,there are some major findings.Firstly,poetic metaphor is essentially an extended and elaborated conceptual metaphor;therefore,poetic metaphor is systematic and coherent,which is the same as basic conceptual metaphor.Meanwhile,poetic metaphor is characterized by creativity,novelty,diversity and individual-specificity.Secondly,though most of the poetic metaphors are extensions of a conventional metaphor in a way that goes beyond the ordinary,poets can also use conventional metaphors directly in their poems.However,they integrate them into linguistic expressions that go beyond the daily language to create a poetic effect.Lastly,poetic metaphor is formed and works on the basis of basic conceptual metaphor by means of four major modes of poetic thought,and they are extending,elaborating,questioning,and composing.Theoretically speaking,this study will provide Lakoff and Turner's poetic metaphor theory with more and stronger cross-cultural evidence,strengthening its explanatory power in terms of cross-cultural linguistic data.Practically speaking,the study will help us understand poetic metaphor and poetic thought better,which is beneficial to teaching,learning and translating of Chinese poetry.As for Su Shi's poetry,the study provides a cognitive respective for us to interpret poetic metaphors in Su Shi's poetry,which enriches the studies on Su Shi's poetry.Besides,it helps us have a better and deeper understanding of his poems,which is helpful for us to appreciate and translate them.