A Study Of Parody Based On The Pragmatic Intention

Parody is a rhetorical phenomenon that is very common in modern Chinese.Apart from the field of rhetoric,there are also some achievements in the fields of pragmatics and cognitive linguistics.Nevertheless,most of the studies on classification are based on the taxonomy of language form,which is out of context and static.These classifications do not apply to the communicative intention and the cognitive explanation.This dissertation classifies parody by intentions and explains the different intentions and the mechanism of semantic comprehension.Finally,the present study explains the cognitive choices of three kinds of parody by figure-ground theory.This paper consists of seven chapters:In Chapter One,the dissertation sorts out and summarizes the previous research achievements of parody,which involves rhetoric,pragmatics,and cognitive linguistics.As well,this chapter makes an objective evaluation of the previous research results and finds the problems to be solved.In Chapter Two,the dissertation redefines and classifies parody based on pragmatic intention.The speaker takes an existing linguistic unit in the context of the parodied expression based on a specific intention and splits it into two parts.One part is kept,and the other part is replaced.The new linguistic unit is a parodying expression.It is the process of parody.According to the pragmatic intentions,parody is divided into phantom-parody,source-parody,and source-phantom-parody.Chapter Three investigates the phantom-parody.In this kind of parody,the speaker uses the parodied expression based on the conceptual intention and aesthetic intention.The parodied expression is the critical point of semantic expression.The semantic understanding mechanism is the semantic inheritance.Chapter Four studies the source-parody.In this kind of parody,the speaker uses the parodied expression based on the ironic intention and negative intention.The parodying expression is the critical point of semantic expression.The parodying expression is mainly used to provide the orientation of the semantic resolution.Chapter Five is about the study on the source-phantom-parody.In this kind of parody,the speaker uses the parodied expression based on the conceptual intention and cohesive intention.The parodying expression and the parodied expression both are the critical points of semantic expression.The semantic inheritance and the semantic coherence are the semantic understanding mechanism of this kind of parody.In Chapter Six,this dissertation explains the cognitive psychology of three types of parody by figure-ground theory in cognitive linguistics.The choice of cognitive psychology and the emphasis on semantic expression are consistent,which is in accord with the pragmatic intention.Chapter Seven summarizes the study's viewpoints and points out the shortcomings in the dissertation.