Covert Culture In Antithesis And Dui-ou

Comparative research on English and Chinese rhetorical devices is becoming more and more prevalent, much of which is carried out from a linguistic or literary angle. This thesis focuses on antithesis in English and dui-ou in Chinese, which are commonly regarded as similar rhetorical devices. In addition to canonical rhetorical and linguistic theories, this research is built upon an important concept in cultural studies initiated by Edward T. Hall, namely covert culture, or "unconscious cultural patterns". An overall linguistic comparison is made between antithesis and dui-ou, which can be roughly translated as "structural parallelism", to find characteristics shared and held separately by them. My thesis then follows on the cultural functions that these rhetorical devices have been serving. Ultimately, my research discloses that antithesis and dui-ou are virtually representative of disparate directions with respect to covert culture: antithesis is virtually function-and-content-oriented and representative of a culture revering competition; while dui-ou is aesthetics-oriented, embodying another culture which embraces artistic pursuit, social harmony and tradition as its core. This thesis further suggests the awareness of cultural factors inherent in rhetorical devices, enlarging the scope of interdisciplinary rhetorical-cultural research in the future.