Journey Metaphor in Taiwan Mandarin Pop Songs by Indigenous Singers
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Liu, Ya-Ling
Abstract
The universality of conceptual metaphor has been recognized in cognitive linguistics. However, though the importance of metaphor variation among different cultures has also been pointed out (Kövecses 2005), little research focuses on the cultural and social influences that create variations in metaphors between different social groups when using the same language. In order to bridge the gap between linguistic studies and indigenous social realities, this study examines the characteristics of JOURNEY metaphor in the lyrics written by Taiwan indigenous and Han lyricists as well as their relationship to their respective cultural and historical backgrounds. The lyrics corpus consists of 154 songs originally written by indigenous singers, and 188 by Han lyricists.
The results show that despite the universality of Event Structure Metaphor at the generic level, the specific-level metaphorical representations of “PURPOSEFUL ACTIVITIES ARE JOURNEYS” in the two groups exhibit differences as a result of differential cultural and social experiences. More specifically, the dominant target domains conceptualized by JOURNEY in the lyrics written by indigenous lyricists are “DREAM PURSUIT, IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION, and CULTURE PRESERVATION,” whereas in the lyrics written by Han lyricists the source domain of JOURNEY is prevalently utilized to conceptualize LOVE.
Furthermore, with regard to the same target domain “DREAM PURSUIT,” it is found that the characteristics of the basic aspects under the source domain of JOURNEY utilized by lyricists of different ethnicities exhibit a contrastive distinction which highlights the current social situation of the indigenous people in Taiwan. Furthermore, basic aspects including SCENERY and LUGGAGE are suggested to be potential additional elements under the source domain of JOURNEY.
All in all, this study analyzes the social significance of lyrics for marginalized groups, demonstrates the relationship between culture and the use of conceptual metaphors, contributes to the discussion of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, and also calls attention to the issues of identity construction and social inequality faced by indigenous people in Taiwan.
Subjects
JOURNEY metaphor
indigenous pop lyrics
Conceptual Metaphor
Event Structure Metaphor
Type
thesis
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