论中西方爱情中的结构隐喻.docx

论中西方爱情中的结构隐喻.docx

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论中西方爱情中的结构隐喻

Contents

Abstract2

Ⅰ.Introduction3

Ⅱ.LiteratureReview4

A.Thecognitivestudyofmetaphor4

B.Conceptionofstructuralmetaphor4

Ⅲ.HomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove5

A.Loveisajourney5

B.Loveiswar5

C.Loveisaphysicalforce6

D.Loveisfluid6

E.Loveisplant6

Ⅳ.HeterogenityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove6

A.Thedifferencecausedbythediversityofecomomicstructure6

B.Thedifferencecausedbythediversityofculture7

C.Emotionalexpressioninadifferentway7

Ⅴ.Conclusion7

Notes8

Bibliography9

Acknowledgements10

Abstract:

Love,oneofhuman'sdeepestandstrongestpassions,isexpressedinhundredsofwaysinhumancivilization.Theabstractconceptoflovecannotbefullyelucidatedwithoutmetaphors.Structuralmetaphorisamappingfromoneconceptualstructuretoanother.ChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsofloveshareasimilarcentralconceptualsystembecauseofthecognitivesimilarity.However,thediversityofnationalculturesmakesdifferencesbetweenthem.ThispaperanalyzesthehomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove;andmeanwhileitexpatiatestheheterogeneityofthemthroughcomparingtheculturaldiversities.

Keywords:

love;structuralmetaphor;cognition;culture

摘　要:

在人类繁衍生息的漫长历史进程中，爱情是人类最厚重久远的感情之一。

没有隐喻，爱情这一抽象概念就得不到充分阐释。

结构隐喻是指以一种概念的结构来构造另一种概念。

由于人类认知的相似性,中英文惯用的爱情结构隐喻有着惊人的相似之处;而中英不同的民族文化又导致了中英爱情结构隐喻的差异性。

本文分析了中英爱情结构隐喻表达的趋同性;同时通过对中英文化背景

异的比较,阐述了中英爱情结构隐喻表达的异质性。

关键词:

爱情;结构隐喻;认知;文化

ComparisonBetweenChineseandEnglishStructuralMetaphorsofLove

Ⅰ.Introduction

Loveisabeautifulbutabstractthing.Overthecourseofhistoryithasbeenartists,poetsandplaywrightswhohavemadethegreatestprogressinhumanity'sunderstandingoflove.Romancehasseemedasinexplicableasthebeautyofarainbow. Thisbeautyisvisiblegraguallyaftermetaphorusedinthisspecialfield.Itseemstobeaperfectprogressinliteraturethatmetaphorhasbecomeapoeticwaytoexpressthenebulousconcept—love.Metaphorisnotonlyarhetoricdevice,butamatterofthoughtandaction.Withoutmetaphor,peoplecannotfullyunderstandlove.Peopleoftenusespecificortangiblethingstodescribelove,throughmetaphor,peoplecanexpresslovemorevisually.

MetaphorshavebeenbeingstudiedsincetheageofAristotle.Aristotlebelievesthatmetaphorsexistseverywhereanytimeinhumanbeings’life.However,wemustknowthatmetaphorscanhelphumanbeingsbetterunderstandthenewthings,categoriesandconcepts.In1980,scholarsGeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnsonpublishedthebookMetaphorsWeLiveBy.Itisclaimedthatmetaphorisoneofourmostimportanttoolsforattemptingtounderstandpartiallywhatcannotbecomprehendedtotally.1LakoffandJohnsonfirstputforwardconceptualmetaphortheoryinthisbook,andtrytostudyhumanmetaphorfromtheviewofhumancognition.ThispaperwillfocusonstudyingChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove.

Ⅱ.LiteratureReview

A.Thecognitivestudyofmetaphor

Thecognitivestatusofmetaphorhasbeenpointedoutbymanyaresearcher.LakoffandJohnsonarguethatthelanguageoftheimagination,especiallymetaphoristhemostsignificantaspectofourexperienceasittranscendsrationalityandobjectivity.Thus,meaningisthesumofobjectiveandsubjectivepersonalexperiencewithcategories,whichmakesthestudyoffigurativelanguageinsightfulandenriching.

Thecreativenatureofmetaphorsuggeststhatmetaphormakingisnotreliantonexistingobjectivesimilaritybetweenasourcedomainandatargetdomain.“Theonlysimilaritiesrelevanttometaphorsaresimilaritiesasexperiencedbypeople”,notobjectivesimilarities.2LakoffandJohnsonproposethatmetaphorscanbebasedonsimilarities,thoughinmanycasesthesesimilaritiesarethemselvesbasedonconventionalmetaphorsthatarenotbasedonsimilarities.Similaritiesbasedonconventionalmetaphorsarenonethelessrealinourculture,sinceconventionalmetaphorspartlydefinethatwefindreal.

Thecognitivelinguisticsareexcessivelyconcernedwiththeroleofmetaphorincognition,insteadoftryingtoexplainhowmetaphorreallyworks,whichhasarousedcriticismsfromotherlinguistics.Infact,metaphorispresentedasacognitiveoperation,anditsimportcannotbecommunicatedotherwise.Oneofthemostrecentdevelopmentsinmetaphorstudyhasappearedwithintheframeworkoftheconceptualmetaphortheory.

B.Conceptionofstructuralmetaphor

LakoffandJohnson（1980）classifyconceptualmetaphorsinto3categories:

ontologicalmetaphors,structuralmetaphorsandorientationalmetaphors.

Structuralmetaphorspartiallystructureoureveryconceptandthatthisstructureisreflectedinourliterallanguage.Structuralmetaphorsismostimportantbecauseitallowsustogobeyondorientationandreferringandgivesusthepossibilitytostructureoneconceptaccordingtoanother.Thismeansthatstructuralmetaphorsaregroundedinourexperience.Structuralmetaphorsimplyhowoneconceptismetaphoricallystructuredintermsofanother.3

Ⅲ.HomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove

A.Loveisajourney

Themetaphorinvolvesunderstandingonedomainofexperience,love,intermsofaverydifferentdomainofexperience,journeys.Moretechnically,themetaphorcanbeunderstoodasamapping（inthemathematicalsense）fromasourcedomain（inthiscase,journeys）toatargetdomain（inthiscase,love）.Themappingistightlystructured.Therearesomerelationshipsbetweenloveandjourney.

Lovercorrespondtotraveller.

Lovecorrespondtotraveltools.

Thecommongoaloflovingcorrespondtotraveldestination.

Thesetbacksoflovecorrespondtodifficultiesintravel.

Inthejourneyoflove,bothtwosideswillfacevarioushardship,andsometimestheycanovercomedifficultiesandworkhandinhandtowardthegoals;sometimes,itwillbedifficulttodefeat,andfinallybreakup.Englishexamplesare:

Lookhowfarwe’vecome.

It’sbeenalong,bumproad.

Ourrelationshiphashitadeadendstreet.

Wemayhavetogoourseparateways.

InChineseliteraryworks,theconceptofusingjourneytoexpresslovealsoisverycommon,forexample:

情长路更长/情路艰辛/分道扬镳

B.Loveiswar

Inthisstructure,thecrueltyandvoilencehavebeenmappedtotheconceptoflove.Lovelikeswar,whichisaprocessoffiercecompetition.Sometimesitneedtobeattherivaltocapturelove,fillingwiththesmellofgunpowder.InEnglish,therearesomeexpressions:

I’mjustwildaboutHarry.

Heconstantlyravesabouther.

InChinese,lovealsohassomesimilaritiestowar.

他终于获取了她的芳心。

/他的情敌很多。

C.Loveisaphysicalforce

Whenwereferstolove,wemayconsiderithassomethinglikephysicalpowerwhichcanattractpeople.Inthisstructure,thephysicalforceofattractionandfrictionisappliedtolove.Suchas:

Hiswholeliferevolvesaroundher.

Theatmospherearoundthemisalwayscharged.

Thereweresparksintheireyes.

InChinese,therearealsosomeexamples:

他们之间相互吸引。

/她对他有磁石般的引力。

他们之间迸发出了爱的火花。

Withthehelpofmagneticforce,thesesentencesaboveexpressthepassionand

attractionoflove.

D.Loveisfluid

Asweallknow,fluid,suchas,streams,rivers,isusedtodescribelove.It’scommontofindthatloveisfluidincontainerinEnglish.

Sheisfilledwithlove.

Theyfallinlovewitheachother.

Chinesealsodescribedtheloveasstreams,rivers.Wecanfindsomeexamples.

他对她一往情深。

/他们很快坠入爱河。

/情似长溪长不断。

E.Loveisplant

Englishhasthestructuralmetaphor“Loveisplant”aswellasChinese,inEnglish,

Ourloveflowered./Ourlovegrew.

InChinese,weoftensay:

他们是一对并蒂芙蓉。

/他们之间萌发了爱慕之情。

Fromtheseanalysis,wecanseethathomogeneityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsofloveisnotanaccident.Itcannotbeignoredthattherearealwayssomesimilaritieswhenhumanbeingsexpresstheiremotion,nomatterwherearetheyfromandwhichlanguagedotheyuse.AlthoughtherearemanydifferencesbetweenChineseandEnglish,thecommonthinkingandthesameangleoflovecauseasimilarmetaphoricalexpression.Lovehasthesameconceptandessenceevenwecanexpressitinvariousways.Therefore,structuralmetaphoroflovehashomogeneitiesindifferrentlanguageandculture.

Ⅳ.HeterogenityofChineseandEnglishstructuralmetaphorsoflove

Thesimilaritiesofexpressinglovearealmostcausedbythesamemodeofthinking.However,itisknowntousall,cultureshapesourthinking,behaviour,andcommunicationinmorewaythanone.Sodoeseconomicsystem.Ifwewanttopenetratestructuralmetaphors,weshouldrefertothenationalcultureunderspecificbackgroundandspecificregions.Inordertoelucidatethisconceptspecifically,wewillcomparethedifferencesbetweenChinesecultureandEnglishculture.

A.Thedifferencecausedbythediversityofecomomicstructure

Westerncommodityeconomyhasbeenrelativelydeveloped,PeopleinEnglishcountryregardtheperson'svaluemoreimportantthananyotherpeopledo,alsoadvocatingindividualismandegotism.Loveisassimilatedtomerchandiseorvaluables.Hence,inEnglish,thereisametaphoricalconcept:

Loveiscommodity.Suchas:

Ipaidalotforsolittlelove.

Itreasuredthislove.

Becauseofthetraditionalagriculture,theexpressionofloveinChineseistotallydifferent.Therefore,theexpressionsthatloveisproductsofagricultureorloveisapartofagriculturallifeareverycommontosee.Meanwhile,Chinaistheworld'searliestcountrytoproductsilk.Underthisbackground,peopleliketocomparelovetosilk.

他一下就坠入了情网。

/情丝剪不断,理还乱。

B.Thedifferencecausedbythediversityofculture

Toagreatextent,Englishc