| Eliot’s The Waste Land has an important position in western literature history,which is honored as a milestone.Due to its unique characteristics and position,many domestic and abroad scholars have been attracted.Research on The Waste Land begins very early.Until now,they have grained great achievements,starting from textual interpretation to various studies in multi-fields and multi-perspectives.In the thesis,The Waste Land is chosen as a sample.Lakoff and Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory,Lakoff and Turner’s Poetic Metaphor Theory,and Stockwell’s Poetic Metaphor Theory are applied as theoretical frameworks to study poetic metaphor in The Waste Land.In the thesis,the research questions are mainly listed as the following:(1)How are three types of conceptual metaphor distributed in The Waste Land?(2)What are the functions of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land?(3)What are the characteristics of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land?In the thesis,the author applies Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Poetic Metaphor Theory to the study of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land.The term“poetic metaphor” is firstly put forward by Lakoff and Turner in More than Cool Reason: A Field Guild to Poetic Metaphor.They(1989)deem that poetic metaphor is conceptual metaphor in a poem.Between conceptual metaphor and poetic metaphor,there is a dispensable relationship;therefore,the study of poetic metaphor on the basis of conceptual metaphor is reasonable and scientific in accordance with cognitive rules.However,poetic metaphor has its own features that conceptual metaphor does not totally equal to poetic metaphor.Applying Poetic Metaphor Theory to study unique functions and characteristics has significant importance in making a systematic study of poetic metaphor.Based on the similarities between conceptual metaphor and poetic metaphor,a research is concluded on poetic metaphor systematically,which can facilitate to provide a new idea or perspective for studying poetic metaphor.The thesis is the study of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land.The thesis is to get general and universal regularities by means of having a case study of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land.The thesis is employed case study,and mixed methods of quantitative research and qualitative research.The quantitative research is applied to study how different types of conceptual metaphor are distributed in The Waste Land.Case study is a main research method,and it is applied in the thesis to analyze and illustrate metaphorical expressions,the unique functions and characteristics of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land.By analyzing above studies,some conclusions can be made as the following.The distribution of types of conceptual metaphor in The Waste Land,structural metaphor is used most frequently.Ontological metaphor is used subsequently,while orientational metaphor is seldom used.In The Waste Land,poetic metaphor has many functions,including extending,elaborating,questioning and composing.In The Waste Land,the features of poetic metaphor are mainly characterized by language and structure.Meanwhile,the language of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land is clarity,richness,abstractness,scope and validity.The structure of poetic metaphor in The Waste Land is systematicity and hierarchy.This statement is the author’s original integration.Due to the peculiarities of a poem,such as rhythm and form,the sound metaphor and formal metaphor can be illustrated in exploratory research in the future. |
