A Study On Poetic Metaphor In Lyrics Of Folk Music By Bob Dylan

The study on metaphor has a history of 2000 years.Since ancient Greek,metaphor is merely deemed to be a rhetorical device;during that time,substitution theory and comparison theory were put forward.Until 1930 s,studies on metaphor were incorporated into semantics;interaction theory was then put forward.After 1970 s,studies on metaphor underwent rapid development and became multidisciplinary.Metaphor studies in China also have a long history but barely had any development in the early time.From the 1990 s,Chinese linguists gradually introduced the latest theories from the West,and managed to make improvement based on the basic situation of our own.Achievements have been made in recent years.In the book More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor published in 1989,Lakoff and Turner argue that since poetic metaphor is derived from basic metaphor,they are essentially the same.This viewpoint is disputed;the objectors believe that poetic metaphor and basic metaphor are two different concepts.On the other hand,the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016 was conferred to the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan,making him the first singer-songwriter winning a Nobel Prize.Based on the theories about conceptual metaphor and poetic metaphor put forward by Lakoff,this study makes qualitative analyses on Dylan's works,attempting to clarify the relation between basic metaphor and poetic metaphor as well as to demonstrate the poetic characteristics and functions in Dylan's works.Firstly,a discussion on the relation between metaphor and style is made.It also offers a description on the theories that are applied to the present study,where several basic theoretical concepts such as conceptual metaphor,basic metaphor and poetic metaphor are introduced so that a clear comparison to these concepts is conducted.Besides,basic requirements for poetic metaphor comprehension are put forward.Guided by the theory of conceptual metaphor and poetic metaphor,characteristic and functional analyses on Dylan's works are conducted to demonstrate the poetic characteristics and functions of his works.There are two main findings.Firstly,as non-conventional metaphor,poetic metaphor has its typical characteristics such as originality,authenticity under the cover of impossibility,aesthetic,interestingness and interaction,ineffability and so forth.Thus,it is unreasonable to appreciate a poetic metaphor in the same way of comprehending a basic metaphor.Secondly,containing abundant images in the lyrics,poetic metaphor conducts certain functions in Dylan's works,including cohesion,sympathy,evaluation and cognition,which further demonstrate the poetic features of his works.These discoveries are significant to distinguish poetic metaphor from basic metaphor.Moreover,it demonstrates the poetic values of Dylan's works.In addition,by means of characteristic and functional analysis of poetic metaphor,this thesis can act as a guide to poetry comprehension and appreciation.There are certain limitations in the present study.More characteristics and functions of poetic metaphor remain to be found.Besides,if possible,a more scientific research method like quantitative analysis should be employed in the study for a more objective and comprehensive result.