A Cognitive Study Of The Character Portrayal Of Lin Daiyu And Xue Baochai In Hongloumeng

Human imagination plays an essential role in meaning, understanding and reasoning. Johnson (1987:xiv) proposes two types of imaginative structures in language:image schemata and metaphorical projections. It is based on the Image Schema Theory and Conceptual Metaphor Theory in the framework of cognitive linguistics that the author conceives the current study.Hongloumeng is one of the four famous Chinese classics. It is customarily considered the peak of the Chinese classical novels and viewed as an encyclopedic novel for its profound ideological content and artistic quality. Because the author of Hongloumeng is quite adept at using foreshadowing, symbolism, metaphor and novel language expressions to form the structure and portray the characters, the abundant metaphorical linguistic expressions in the book provide precious resources for literary, rhetoric and linguistic studies. Focusing on the character portrayal of the two main female figures in Hongloumeng, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai, this thesis serves as a systematic research on the application of the Image Schema Theory and Conceptual Metaphor Theory to the study of character images in literature.From the detailed analysis of the language portraying the two figures, this study gets the following findings:1. In portraying the character images of the two figures, two dominant image schemata are adopted, one is the schema of CYCLE for Lin Daiyu, and the other is the schema of "ZHENG" for Xue Baochai. The CYCLE schema is mainly reflected in the plot design. However, the "ZHENG" schema is highlighted by a group of frequently used phrases, and it chiefly functions as a strong manifestation of the internal features of Xue Baochai.2. The study also generalizes the conceptual metaphors which are believed to best represent the distinctive features of the character images from the external and internal perspectives. For Lin Daiyu, the conceptual metaphors portraying the external features include:LIN DAIYU IS FAIRY and LIN DAIYU IS PLANT. Those portraying her mental world are:SPIRIT OF LIN DAIYU IS THING ABLE TO WANDER ANYWHERE FROM THE BODY, SPIRIT OF LIN DAIYU IS LIMITED RENEWABLE RESOURCE, BOREDOM OF LIN DAIYU IS GASEOUS SUBSTANCE, FEELING OF LIN DAIYU IS OBJECT, and "MING" OF LINDAIYYU IS OBJECT. The conceptual metaphors portraying the external features of Xue Baochai include XUE BAOCHAI IS FLOWER and XUE BAOCHAI IS SNOW. Those portraying her internal features are BEING GOOD, RIGHT AND IMPORTANT IS "ZHENG", BEING UPRIGHT AND DECENT IS "ZHENG", BEING IN CONFORMITY WITH THE STANDARD CRITERION IS "ZHENG", and BEING SENSIBLE IS "MINGBAI".3. Through this study, the following general rules about the conceptual metaphors in portraying Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai are discovered. The metaphorical linguistic expressions are widespread in language, but not every metaphorical concept is necessarily concerned with the character image. It can only be a cliched concept deeply entrenched in language and shared by all human beings. Furthermore, the same metaphorical concept can be used in portraying different characters. Choosing different aspects or subcategories of the source domain can express distinctive meanings. The quantity of the metaphorical expressions also plays a certain role in achieving different effects.Because of the limitation of the author's academic capability and the complexity of the language data, the current author fails to carry out an exhaustive research covering all the metaphorical concepts in the character portrayal of the two characters. After all, this thesis is a meaningful attempt to study character image in literature within the framework of cognitive linguistics. It is hoped that it can provide a new perspective for literary study.