The Linguistic Study Of A Dream Of Red Mansions From The Perspective Of Metaphor

Based on the conceptual metaphor theory, which emphasizes metaphor as a cognitive and tingking mode, the dissertation focuses on interpreting how metaphor constructs the linguistic features of A Dream of Red Mansions (80-chapter version). Firstly, metaphor constructs not only the temporal-spatial context but also the narrative context. Conceptual metaphor---structural metaphor, spatial metaphor and ontological metaphor is another key word to analyze A Dream of Red Mansions, which aids us to appreciate its perfect conversations and other textual interpretation of metaphors. To appreciate its narration from the perspective of metaphor, the key metaphorical narrator---"Stone"---is the primitive force to carry the whole novel forward. Besides, the following three metaphorical strategies---"Dream" Strategy,"Returning Tears" Strategy and "Mirror" Strategy---take the metaphorical narration in A Dream of Red Mansions to the perfect extremes. All these metaphorical strategies highlight its tragic narration. The dialectical rhetorical techinique of A Dream of Red Mansions is reflected by the structure of reality and fiction, the language style of refined and popular taste as well as the double melody of sadness and happiness, all of which is deeply rooted in Chinese simple dialectical ideology---Yin and Yang Theory. From the above analysis, this dissertation holds the view that A Dream of Red Mansions is a book written with abundant metaphors. To fully appreciate A Dream of Red Mansions well is to read it in a metaphorical and dialectical way.