Metaphor Of Cultural Studies

Metaphor is both a linguistic and cultural phenomenon. Through the comparative study of Chinese and English dominant metaphors, this thesis shows the differences between eastern and western cultural models, and how the cultural model determines the dominant metaphors in this particular culture.This paper gives introductions to theories of metaphor, culture, and cultural models. It also the studies the dominant metaphors in Chinese, namely family metaphor, eating metaphor, and the ones in English, that is business metaphor, and sports metaphor. The paper draws the following conclusion: the Chinese people view and understand the world and life through family and eating events, whereas English-speaking people through business and sports. This difference is rooted in the different cultural models. Besides, cross-culture communication has an influence in the use of metaphors, but that influence is unbalanced.It is possible that we understand the values and worldviews held by the people of a certain language community with the help of the dominant metaphors in that language. Thus, we can better understand the speakers of another language, and have more efficient ways to communicate with them.