Love Metaphors in Taiwan Mandarin Lyrics since the 90s: A Metaphor Network Model Approach
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Wang, Kuo-Shu
Abstract
The present thesis aims to investigate how love metaphors are employed in Mandarin pop music, attempting to find out metaphors utilized to elucidate the abstract concept, love. Meanwhile, the Metaphor Network Model is constructed to explain the conceptual cognitive processes underlying these love metaphors.
Conceptual metaphor is regarded as an important device that reflects the cognitive source of human thinking (Su 2000). In addition, metaphors employed through linguistic expressions also mirror our conceptual processes. Pop music not only has characteristics of voicing personal feelings and reflecting social changes and realities but is also considered a pervasively accepted culture vehicle in current pop culture. Moreover, love is the most dominant topic in Western and Mandarin pop music. However, there is little research examining metaphor in Mandarin pop music. Thus, this thesis does not merely provide an in-depth understanding of cognitive processes of comprehending love but also connects metaphors with contemporary socio-cultural phenomena tightly.
The result reveals that LOVE IS A JOURNEY is the most frequently-used love metaphor (29.9%) among 536 metaphorical tokens identified via Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Blending Theory in 352 songs selected from Golden Melody Chart, G-Music Chart and Hitfm Chart for the past 2 decades. Moreover, numerous delicate aspects of a journey, such as the variation of the number of travelers, the destination of a journey, the length of a journey, the way of a journey, and the scenery observed during the journey, are all employed to delineate different kinds of love. The second frequently-used metaphor is Ontological Metaphor, which accounts for 24.6%. Seven ontological traits are utilized to specify the classification criteria. Furthermore, this thesis finds that while most love metaphors in Mandarin lyrics can be classified into Event Structure Metaphor and Ontological Metaphor, some love metaphors cannot be interpreted unless the characteristics of these two categories are combined. In view of this, Portmanteau Metaphor is thus proposed as a novel metaphor category to complement the inadequacy of classification in previous studies that cannot provide a thorough explanation for love metaphors in Mandarin pop music.
This thesis constructs the Metaphor Network Model based on the corresponding relations among love metaphors in Mandarin pop music. This model merges cross-mapping among multiple mental spaces in Blending Theory and metaphor identification criteria from Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Blending Theory to explain the phenomenon where at least two metaphors are blended simultaneously to conceptualize love. Furthermore, a Panoramic Metaphor Network Model, which can illuminate the conceptualization of love, can be constructed when the Metaphor Network Models from different metaphor categories are integrated.
Subjects
Metaphor Network Model
conceptual metaphor
blending theory
portmanteau metaphor
pop music
love
Type
thesis
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