Imagery In Shakespeare’s Sonnets From The Perspective Of Cognitive Poetics

This thesis attempts to launch an investigation into the imagery in Shakespeare‘s sonnetsbased on the blending theory, a powerful explanatory theoretical mechanism to humancognition, and in the framework of cognitive poetics, a new creative research perspective toliterature. As an important research focus, imagery is studied in various disciplines, such asliterature, arts, linguistics, psychology, etc. In literature, definitions of imagery are tightlyrelated to the yijing (意境) in classical Chinese poetry and also influenced by aesthetics andpsychology of traditional Chinese culture. On the other hand, imagery is labeled as―image‖,―mental image‖or―mental imagery‖in terms of cognitive linguistics and cognitivepsychology, defining it as the―mental representation of perception‖(Wang Yin,2006:175).In aesthetics, imagery is associated with particular emotions and artistic feelings. Yet, none ofthese definitions are comprehensive enough.To better appreciate imagery in Shakespeare‘s sonnets, a more comprehensive definitionof imagery is established within the framework of cognitive poetics. As a newinterdisciplinary subject, studies of cognitive poetics are concerned with explaining readers‘intellectual operation or general cognition involved in the whole process of literary reading. Aproper definition of imagery established in the thesis is comprehensive and objective,concluding that imagery concerns such factors as cognition, artistic perception, emotions andideas of the author.Interpretations of the generation mechanism of imagery are of great help inunderstanding and appreciating imagery. The blending theory operates as an effectivecognitive instrument in literal discourse analysis and meaning construction. The theory on which the thesis is constructed is a model of six-space integration network designed by LineBrandt and Per Aage Brandt (2005), a semiotic modification of the original four-spaceintegration network. The Brandts‘model depicts a more specific picture of the dynamicprocesses involved which incorporate the important role of feelings in motivation. Thus, itsuggests that the model of six-space integration network is a more powerful interpretation toolin explaining poetic meaning production, especially in the interpretation of the generationmechanism of imagery.The methodology used in the thesis is a combination of close text reading and casestudies, through which plain literary reading and cognitive studies are directly interrelated.Shakespeare‘s sonnets are abundant in various images,―rose‖standing for love and beauty,―sunset‖for depression,―tide‖for the cruelty of time and nature, and so on. The focus of thisthesis lies in explaining how these interpretations are arrived at from a different perspective ofcognitive poetics, rather than proposing new interpretations of these images in the sonnets.The significance of the thesis consists in meeting a balance between cognitive linguisticresearches and conventional literary studies to get a better appreciation of the subtleness ofthe poetic diction and gain a deeper insight into the poetic meaning.To conclude, the thesis expounds the blending theory and its interpretative power toimagery in Shakespeare‘s sonnets. The perspective of cognitive poetics renders a new focuson human shared mental processes involved in and artistically indicated in literary languageuse.