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On the Conceptual Metaphor in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Author: ZuoChuanChuan
Tutor: LiHong
School: Chongqing University
Course: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Keywords: conceptual metaphor cognitive linguistics Beloved cross-domain mapping
CLC: H315
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2009
Downloads: 506
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Abstract

The Conceptual Metaphor Theory, proposed by Lakoff and Johnson in their landmark book Metaphors We Live by, has exerted a strong influence in the whole academic world since its publication. It advocates that metaphor is human cognitive mechanism. Metaphor in essence is a“cross-domain mapping”, which indicates that we human beings use familiar and specific concepts to describe the unfamiliar and abstract ones. Lakoff and Johnson have categorized metaphor into three types from a cognitive perspective: Structural Metaphors, Orientational Metaphors and Ontological Metaphors.In this thesis, conceptual metaphors in Toni Morrison novel Beloved will be analyzed based on the theory of cognitive linguistics. The author first explains that conceptual metaphors, as a basic human cognition and way of thinking, embody more powerful interpretability in comparison with that of traditional notion of metaphor, and at the same time proves that the conceptual metaphors in the novel Beloved are widespread. Although many scholars have already analyzed metaphor in the novel Beloved from the rhetorical perspective, however, with the development of linguistics and intervention of cognition, the author believes the conceptual metaphors can more vividly and more delicately present the intrinsic information hidden in the novel Beloved. Meanwhile, the author uses Cognitive Domains, Image Schema and other cognitive linguistic theories to assist in the analysis of the application and function of conceptual metaphors in the novel Beloved. In this thesis, besides the explanation of the essence of the conceptual metaphors and summary of their characteristics, a detailed introduction of widely recognized definition of the conceptual metaphors and their classification will be elaborated, too. On the basis of existing research, the author’s personal insights will be provided so as to comprehensively analyze the conceptual metaphors in the novel Beloved. In Chapter Three–the focus of this thesis, the author summarize and analyze the main characters, water, as well as markings these three kinds of conceptual metaphors in the novel Beloved. The reason of focusing on these three types of conceptual metaphors is that the main characters, water, as well as markings in the novel Beloved are the main line of narration and they play an essential role in enabling readers to have a comprehensive understanding of the content of the novel.In conclusion, the conceptual metaphor is not only a universal phenomenon; it is also a basic human way of thinking. Cognitive function of conceptual metaphors expounded in the thesis further illustrates that conceptual metaphors play a meaningful role in creating literary works.

On the Conceptual Metaphor in Toni Morrison’s Beloved

Abstract

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