Analyses Of Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems From The Perspective Of The Text World Theory

The Text World Theory is aiming at exploring the production and reception of discourse under the framework of cognitive poetics.Paul Werth is the founder of the theory.He established a complete theoretical framework for the theory.Later on,Joanna Gavins explored the breadth and depth of the Text World Theory based on the foundation Werth had laid.The theory integrated the research methodology of the cognitive linguistics and the cognitive psychology,applying the cognitive principles to analyze specific discourses,focusing on the contexts which influence the text production and reception.Classical Chinese poems reveal the themes and express the authors' emotions through refined words and aesthetic literary forms.Therefore,it is of vital importance to grasp the gist of the poems to comprehensively understand them.It is no exaggeration to say that understanding the theme of the poem is the most crucial step in interpreting classical Chinese poems.Among all the classical Chinese poems,Ci-poems are characterized by the combination of musical rhythm and beautiful words,which is shining brightly in the vast Chinese classic literature collection.As the most famous female poet in the Song dynasty,Li Qingzhao experienced the change of regime from the Northern Song dynasty to Southern Song dynasty.Her Ci-poems not only show her carefree lifestyle but also reflect her anxieties over social turmoil and her uncertainties about the country.Besides,her creative writing style(“Yi'an Style”)is widely known and studied by numerous scholars.This dissertation will analyze Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems from three perspectives.First of all,the heteronomous principle will be implemented in the interpretation of Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems.This methodology is derived from the property of dual sources in the Text World Theory,which provides an entirely new angle for readers to appreciate Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems.According to the heteronomous principle,readers are enabled to communicate with Li Qingzhao across time and space;therefore a correct text world will be built for further discussions about the theme and sentiments of her Ci-poems.Next,this dissertation will interpret Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems from the perspective of multi-level function-advancing proposition.In a text world,the function-advancing propositions provide new information and push forward the development of the text.In the interpretation of the texts like Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems,the process should be adopted,which goes from simple proposition to complex proposition and from mono-level function-advancing to multi-level function-advancing.Besides,this dissertation also interprets Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems from the perspective of world-switch and movement of the Ci-poem focus.Whenever the original text world switches into a sub-world or the newly generated sub-world switches into other new sub-worlds,the focus of the Ci-poem will change.And every time the focus changes,it will generate the theme or the sentiments that the poet was eager to express.In that way,the theme of Li Qingzhao's Ci-poem will be revealed by analyzing the movement of the Ci-focus.It is of far-reaching significance to apply the Text World Theory to the interpretation of Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems.On the one hand,through the sample analysis of Li Qingzhao's Ci-poems,it can be verified that the western theory could be used in revealing the main ideas of the Chinese classical poems.This not only provides a diversified method in the analysis of classical Chinese poems but also offers richer corpus materials for the theory of cognitive poetics.On the other hand,the deep and exquisite side of the literary treasure will be presented on broader stage by using the Text World Theory to interpret the Ci-poems of the famous female poet,Li Qingzhao.