Metaphor: The Basis of Thinking The Framework of Discourse

Author: Feng Xiaohu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: This book has two pillars. One is conceptual metaphor theory, and the other is discourse linguistics. It is well-known that the textual nature of language is reflected in cohesion and coherence. Cohesion is directly expressed through linguistic means, while coherence is not. If we transplant Chomsky's terms "surface structure" and "deep structure," then cohesion is located in the surface structure, while coherence is located in the deep structure. Compared to linguistic means, concepts are situated in the deep structure. From this perspective, discourse and concepts are related. Since discourse coherence is realized at the level of concepts, and conceptual metaphor itself is also a concept, I believe it should be able to help achieve coherence. I am also interested in how conceptual metaphor helps achieve discourse coherence and what mechanism is involved in this process. Additionally, another effort of this book is to summarize the history of metaphor research in China. The history of metaphor research in China, the descriptions of metaphor in Chinese classics, and the similarities and differences between the history of metaphor research in China and that in ancient Greece—clarifying these issues is not only a meaningful topic for Chinese researchers but also even more meaningful for foreign researchers.