A Study Of Metaphor In Life Of Pi From The Perspective Of Peirce's Semiotics

The topic of this thesis is mainly based on the following points: first of all,metaphor has always been a hot topic,and different scholars have done relevant studies on the nature of metaphor.In the history of metaphor research,scholars put forward the rhetoric view,substitution theory,interaction theory,mapping theory and conceptual integration theory respectively.Different studies have their own advantages and disadvantages.Compared with which,the study of metaphor under semiotics has its own advantages.Peirce's semiotics is to explore human thought in essence,and literature is a process of thinking from creation to criticism.Secondly,different scholars have studied metaphor of this novel from different dimensions.However,this thesis finds that few scholars use semiotics to study metaphor in this novel.This thesis draws on the existing achievements in the study of metaphor from the perspective of semiotics and suggests that it is also feasible to study metaphor in literary works with Peirce's semiotics.And metaphor of this novel is analyzed with semiosis model in this thesis.Finally,metaphor in Life of Pi is embodied in different aspects.With the help of metaphor,readers can better understand the theme in this novel.Therefore,it is necessary to study metaphor in Life of Pi.The research of this thesis shows: 1.Compared with the metaphor in daily life,metaphor in literary works is more abstract.Peirce's semiotics is more suitable to interpret metaphor in literary works from the perspective of thinking.2.Placing metaphor in literary works under the framework of Peirce semiotics,it is obvious that metaphor itself is a kind of hypo-icons and also has the process of semiosis.The connotative meaning of metaphor in the novel is from the process of semiosis and is embodied in the second hierarchy.3.According to the theory of unlimited semiosis in Peirce's semiotics and his description of interpretant,it is known that different people have various interpretants.No matter what the interpretant is,it is reasonable in the process of semiosis.Interpretants continue to produce new signs,which allow us to approach the ultimate meaning of metaphor in literature.This study makes contributions both in theoretical and practical aspects.On the one hand,it is the theoretical contribution.Studying the nature of metaphor under Peirce's semiotics can provide a reasonable explanation for metaphor in literary works and a new tool for us to examine the problem in literary works.On this basis,the author expects that semiotics and linguistics can further promote each other and provide a new perspective for future study.On the other hand,it is the practical contribution.By studying the multi-level metaphor in this novel from the perspective of Peirce's semiotics,this thesis deeply interprets the philosophy contained in the novel,which brings important enlightenment to our life in the future.