Analysis Of Irony From The Perspective Of Figure-ground Theory

This paper conducts a qualitative study of irony using figure-ground theory within a cognitive linguistic framework with the aim to find out the identification of figure and ground in irony, observe figure and ground in irony by virtue of cognitive reference point, and thereby reveal the cognitive characteristics of irony corresponding to cognitive principles.As an amazing phenomenon, irony is humorous, witty, and vivid. It is popular both in our daily life and literary works. From ancient times, plenty of researches on irony have been conducted. Up to now, a great amount of studies of irony have been made in the rhetoric, philosophy, psychology and linguistics. Unfortunately, previous studies, however abundant they are, mainly deal with the disputation of its origin, categorization, structure, rhetoric and pragmatic functions and so on. Few researches are conducted from the figure-ground point of view within the framework of cognitive linguistics.Considering the inadequacy of the previous researches, this paper is an attempt to make a comparatively comprehensive and intensive study on irony mainly based on figure-ground theory within the framework of cognitive linguistics. And for the sake of discussion, the cognitive reference-point construction by Langacker, one of the basic cognitive theories, is also touched upon. The study conducts mainly from three aspects: the identification of figure and ground in irony, the analysis of figure and ground in irony from the perspective of cognitive reference point, and its cognitive characteristics. Through the analysis of irony from a cognitive point of view, a final conclusion has been reached and summarized into the following points:First, irony, as a distinctive utterance pattern, is an instantiation of figure-ground in linguistic phenomena. Through the analysis, a conclusion can be reached that irony is a realization of figure and ground in language, with its apparent meaning corresponding to the ground, and its intended meaning corresponding to the figure. In terms of the cognitive reference point, its apparent meaning acts as a reference point, whereas the intended meaning is something to be determined and can be inferred from its apparent meaning.Second, like other language forms, irony also follows human cognitive characteristics and principles, such as the principle from known to unknown, the economic characteristic of cognition. It is also treated as a new approach of human's cognition.Third, figure-ground theory is a new and effective approach to illustrate the traditional phenomena like irony, and has strong explanatory power from the perspective of people's cognition.Although this paper is far from being perfect, it has certain implications with respect to the study of irony and the related phenomena both in the theoretical and practical perspectives. From the theoretical perspective, the current research might give enlightenment to the study of cognitive linguistics by applying figure-ground theory and cognitive reference point to irony. Practically speaking, the analytical framework in this paper illustrates the cognitive analysis of irony, which makes people have a clear comprehension of irony and realize it as soon as possible so as to immediately grasp the speaker's real intention.This paper comprises five chapters:The first chapter is an introduction to the aims and significance of the thesis, research questions, methodology and data collection, and the design of the study.Chapter two begins with a brief introduction to irony, including its origin, definition, classification and functions. Then the previous influential studies on irony from different approaches are reviewed and examined, they are rhetorical approach, psychological approach, semantic approach, pragmatic approach, as well as pragmatic-cognitive approach. Finally, the writer points out the limitations of these studies to show the necessity of analyzing irony within the framework of cognitive linguistics. In chapter three, efforts are made to introduce the major theories employed in this paper. This paper intends to analyze irony from a wholly new perspective, i.e. by employing cognitive theories especially figure-ground theory. Therefore, the basic notions concerned are reviewed first. And the cognitive reference point construction by Langacker is also touched upon. Then the theory application and research procedure is illustrated.Chapter four is the core of this study, designed to explore irony mainly based on figure-ground theory, concluded that the apparent meaning of irony functions as the ground, while the intended meaning the figure. In order to further verify the conclusion drawn from the former parts of this chapter, analysis of irony from the cognitive reference-point construction by Langacker is referred to at the latter section of the chapter. And lastly, the cognitive characteristics of irony are discussed by virtue of the analysis above.The last chapter serves as a conclusion of this thesis, in which the main points of the thesis are enumerated, the main findings and implications are pointed out, and limitations of the study and suggestions for further study are given.