Cognitive Process Of Verbal Irony From The Perspective Of Conceptual Blending Theory: A Case Study Of Fortress Besieged

Irony, a ubiquitous phenomenon in literary works, adds flavor to literature butposes an obstacle for readers. For decades, irony has been mainly explored in termsof its nature, motivation, interpretation process and function. Among these crucialissues, cognitive process of irony has been left largely unexamined. In this study,categorized examination of irony stimulates an integration network，which extendsthe static study to dynamic study. The thesis, therefore, is devoted to cognitiveprocess of irony interpretation in terms of conceptual blending theory, with a view torevealing its meaning construction mechanism.One crucial issue needs to be worked out, that is, how to recognize an utteranceis meant to be ironic. Since the complexity of irony defies precise definition, featuresare clarified. It is noted that multi-dimensional incongruity among the three featuresfunctions as a decisive factor. Irony is identified on the basis of incongruity betweeninference from contextual sources and the propositional information of the utterance.The focus is placed on application of conceptual blending theory to ironyinterpretation. The thesis conducts a detailed case study of irony interpretation inFortress Besieged, a novel by Ch’ien Chung-shu, from the perspective of fourcategories of conceptual blending network to reveal the online dynamic process ofirony interpretation. Based on conceptual blending theory, the blending isdistinguished by the construction of blended space with a richer connotation.Meanwhile, the interpretation of irony is an online dynamic process, inseparablefrom cognitive operations, i.e. composition, completion and elaboration. As a result,incongruity springs up when the new structure of the blended space clashes with thestructure drawn from background knowledge and contextual information in theblended space. The major findings are: It is in settling incongruity in the blendedspace and deriving emergent structure that readers with recruitment of backgroundframes come to understand intended meaning; Moreover, interpretation is also made available with the interaction of conceptual structures in integration network. Inparticular, various emotions and feelings in the blended space are projected back tothe input spaces and reframe them. In this way, readers identify with the negativeattitude of the author.In a nutshell, conceptual blending theory offers an enlightening answer tomeaning construction mechanism. The study demonstrates the feasibility of applyingconceptual blending theory to the study of irony in literary works, which proves thatconceptual blending theory is one of the promising means to achieve the end ofsufficient irony interpretation. Meanwhile, the thesis makes an explicit analysis oncognitive process in interpreting irony. It opens up a new dimension for irony study,especially mechanism by which irony is construed and interpreted.