Research On Theme Realization In Rita Dove's Poems From The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theory

Conceptual blending theory which evolves from mental space theory is a cognitive basis for people to interpret language and meaning and to carry out creative thinking activities.As an important part of cognitive poetics,it now has shown a strong explanatory power in the analysis and interpretation of many literary works.It mainly consists of four interrelated mental spaces,that is,two input spaces,a generic space and a blended space.In the process of blending,some elements in the two inputs correspond to each other and are projected into the blended space through cross-space mapping and selective projection.And then by composition,completion and elaboration,an innovative emergent structure and a new meaning are generated in the blended space.Since poetry is one of the most refined forms of literature and art,the correct understanding of the theme that it conveys is the key to appreciating poetry.Concerning contemporary American poetry field,Rita Dove,the first African-American titled Laureate Poet,is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant ones.Although many scholars have studied Dove's poems from the perspectives of stylistics,translation and rhetoric,ect.,few researchers have analyzed the integration process of the theme realization in Dove's poems from the cognitive perspective.Therefore,in order to expose the generation processes of the themes in Dove's poems more intuitively,this thesis will take the niche as a breakthrough point to use the conceptual networks to explore the themes in Dove's poems.As for the analysis of theme realization in Dove's poems,there are mainly three involved blending network models: mirror network,single-scope network and double-scope network.In the blending process of mirror network model,images in Dove's poems form two input spaces with the same organizing frame.The elements in the inputs corresponding and forming a mapping relation to each other are projected onto the blended space where the poetic themes are further produced.The single-scope network can be used to explain the combinative adoption of abstract images and concrete images in Dove's poems.The two inputs have distinct organizing frames and only the frame of the specific image input is projected onto the blended space to provide its structure for the blending,and thus becoming the basis for understanding the themes in Dove's poems.Just like a single-scope network,a double-scope network also contains two input spaces whose organizing frames are distinct.But some features of both the two organizing frames in the inputs are selectively projected onto the blended space and then contribute to realize the themes in Dove's poems through the cognitive operations of composition,completion and elaboration.By selecting six representative poems of Dove as case studies,this thesis has masterly applied the three conceptual blending network models to generate an elaboration and a profound interpretation about the conceptual blending process of the themes realization in Dove's poems.It can not only prove that the conceptual blending theory of cognitive linguistics is capable of providing both a theoretical framework and a new research perspective for literary poetry appreciation but also help common readers better understand the themes hidden in Dove's poems,which in general has certain theoretical and practical values.