Life and death metaphors in some short stories by jack london from cognitive perspective

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE-STUDIES HOÀNG DIỆU THU LIFE AND DEATH METAPHORS IN SOME SHORT STORIES BY JACK LONDON FROM COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE ẨN DỤ VỀ SỐNG VÀ CHẾT TRONG MỘT SỐ TRUYỆN NGẮN CỦA JACK LONDON DƯỚI GĨC NHÌN TRI NHẬN M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15 HA NOI - 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE-STUDIES HOÀNG DIỆU THU LIFE AND DEATH METAPHORS IN SOME SHORT STORIES BY JACK LONDON FROM COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE ẨN DỤ VỀ SỐNG VÀ CHẾT TRONG MỘT SỐ TRUYỆN NGẮN CỦA JACK LONDON DƯỚI GÓC NHÌN TRI NHẬN M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Linguistics Code: 60.22.15 Supervisor: Associate Professor VõĐaịQuang , Ph.D HA NOI - 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration……………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgement ii Astract ………………………………………………………………………….…iii Table of contents………………………………………………………………… iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.1 Aims of the study 1.2.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Structure of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of different theories on metaphor 2.2 Conceptual metaphor 2.2.1 What is meant by “conceptual metaphor”? 2.2.2 How metaphor structures our thoughts 2.2.3 Mapping as a major function of metaphors 2.3 Highlighting and Hiding 2.4 Coherence and Consistence 2.5 Previous studies related to the theme of this thesis 2.6 Summary 11 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 12 3.1 Principles governing the research 12 3.1.1 Principles governing the research type 12 3.1.2 Principles for the formulation of research questions 13 3.2 Methods employed for the research 14 3.2.1 Data collections instruments 15 3.2.2 Data analysis techniques 15 3.2.3 Data analysis procedure 16 iv 3.3 Summary 16 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 17 4.1 Life Metaphors 17 4.1.1 Life is a journey 17 4.1.2 Life is a fighting/ Life is a battle 20 4.1.3 Life is fire/ heat/ warmth 24 4.1.4 Life is light 27 4.2 Death metaphors 27 4.2.1 Death is the end of a journey 27 4.2.2 Death is cold 29 4.2.3 Death is night/ Death is darkness 31 4.2.4 Death is rest/ Death is sleep 32 4.3 Coherence and consistence of Life and Death metaphors 34 4.3.1 Coherence of Life and Death metaphors 34 4.3.2 Consistence of Life and Death metaphors 35 4.4 Summary 36 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 38 5.1 CONCLUDING REMARKS 38 5.1.1 Concluding remarks on objective – The common type of metaphor for Life and Death image in Jack London’s short stories 38 5.1.2 Concluding remarks on objective – The markers of coherence and consistence between the Life and Death metaphors 38 5.1.3 Concluding remarks on objective - The possible implications for English language teaching and learning 39 5.2 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 41 5.2.1 Limitations of the study 41 5.2.2 Suggestion for further research 41 REFERENCES 44 APPENDICES I v CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Nowadays people have witnessed a great proliferation of works in cognitive grammar, most of which are related to the field of metaphor According to Lakoff & Johnson (1980), there is a set of metaphorical concepts with which we conceptualize the world, or better, our worldviews Following this, metaphor is rather a matter of daily life experience, or a matter ―of thought and reason‖ (Lakoff, 1993: 208) than merely a matter of language Lakoff & Johnson (1980: 6) claim that part of ―the human conceptual system is metaphorically structured and defined.‖ This means that we tend to conceptualize metaphorically certain aspects of life in a systematic way These authors offer a wide range of metaphors that cover basic aspects of life by structuring metaphorically one concept in terms of another Apparently, the high frequency of metaphor in general and conceptual metaphor in literature is one of the interesting fields for linguistics because it has an undeniable influence on the poetic character of a literary works Moreover, literature seems to be the superior choice to consider the product of imagination which reflects the real life Because of the woven of imagination and real life, the language used on literature is not only imaginative but also realistic, which allows people to examine metaphors in both ―ordinary and extraordinary‖ perspectives There are a number of researchers and linguists take metaphors in literature as favorite topic for their studying As Semino & Steen, (2008: 233) metaphors in literature is considered ―more create, novel, original, striking, rich, interesting, complex, difficult, and interpretable‖ than conventional metaphor Among various metaphor concepts, Life and Death metaphors have been taken into consideration by many linguistics But it seems that the Life and Death metaphors are often investigated separately For that reason, the present paper would like to take investigation in both metaphor concepts for the image of Life and Death Jack London, whose fiction clearly indicates the ways in which both his personal experiences and his reading shaped his outlook, always showed the theme of man's attempts to survive the forces of nature, the threat of savages, and the competition with other fortune seekers In Jack London‘s short stories, the battle between Life and Death is presented clearly and interestingly, without the existence of the other For that reason, the present paper would like to investigate the metaphor concept of Life and Death in some short stories by Jack London from the cognitive perspective 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.2.1 Aims of the study This paper is to find out the mapping of conceptual metaphors for Life and Death in some short stories by Jack London It is expected that with the finding established, an overview of LIFE and DEATH metaphors in the obtained literature will be brought about Also, implications for language teaching and learning are offered 1.2.2 Objectives of the study The objectives of the study can be elaborated into the following research questions - What are the common types of metaphors for the Life and Death image in Jack London‘s short stories seen from the cognitive perspective? - What are the markers of coherence and consistence of Life and Death metaphors based on the framework advocated by Lakoff & Johnson? - What are the possible implications for language teaching and learning? 1.3 Significance of the study Metaphor is one of the most basic phenomena in human language This kind of study has significance not only for investigation into language in use, but also for the research of human mind Besides theoretical significance, this study also sheds light on second language teaching and learning This thesis aims to analyze metaphorical sayings of Life and Death from the cognitive perspective, i.e to view the sayings of Life and Death from the perspective of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory Both theoretical analysis and empirical study are conducted on the topic 1.4 Scope of the study The present study takes its basic theoretical background from the work of Lakoff & Johnson (1980), Lakoff & Turner (1989), and Lakoff (2006), where metaphorical expression is conceived as the surface realization of cross-domain mapping in the 128 conceptual systems Due to the limited time, space and the author‘s ability, the present paper just investigates the conceptual metaphors for Life and Death expressed in some famous works by Jack London in the light of theory raised by G Lakoff & M Johnson 1.5 Structure of the study The study consists of five chapters Chapter 1, Introduction, is spared for the presentation of the rationale, aims, significance, scope, and the structure of the study Chapter 2, Literature review, provides the necessary information about the theoretical background related to metaphor based on Lakoff & Johnson‘s perspective Chapter 3, Methodology, provides information about the principles that govern the research and the methods to be employed Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, presents the findings obtained and sound discussions on those findings Chapter 5, Conclusion, provides a recapitulation of the main issues and problems presented in the study The main content in this chapter is the specific conclusions on each of the research question Also, implications for teaching and suggestion for further research have been supplied This subsection brings about the practical value to the thesis from which readers can, to different degrees, benefit CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of different theories on metaphor Put very generally, there are two main approaches in the study of metaphor: firstly, the traditional approach, which encompasses many different theories but shares some fundamental presumptions, secondly, the cognitive approach, which, despite being very recent, has become the most influential theory of metaphor (Richardt, 2005 p 19) Traditionally, According to website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor, A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that describes a subject by asserting that it is, on some point of comparison, the same as another otherwise unrelated object Metaphor is a type of analogy and is closely related to other rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via association, comparison or resemblance including allegory, hyperbole, and simile From cognitive point of view, as stated by Lakoff and Johnson, our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature Without knowing it, we use metaphors on a daily basis in our language, thought and in the way we experience things because our conceptual system is largely metaphorical This means that metaphor consists of conceptual metaphors, which is cognitive in nature, and various linguistic expressions of these conceptual metaphors (Lakoff & Johnson 2003: 50) Lakoff and Johnson explore our conceptual system by looking at language They argue that as communication is based on the same conceptual system that we use in thinking and acting, language is an important source of evidence for what that system is like They use ARGUMENT IS WAR as an example There are manifestations of this metaphorical concept in everyday language: ―Your claims are indefensible,‖ ―I demolished his argument,‖ ―I‘ve never won an argument with him‖ and ―If you use that strategy, he‘ll wipe you out.‖ ARGUMENT IS WAR is not just a way of talking about argument Many of our actions during an argument are actually structured by the concept of war It is a metaphor ―that we live by in this culture; it structures the actions we perform in arguing‖ 2.2 Conceptual metaphor 2.2.1 What is meant by “conceptual metaphor”? The word ―metaphor‖ means to ―carry over‖ or to ―transfer‖ For Lakoff & Johnson (1980: 5), metaphor is used for us to realize ―one kind of thing in terms of another‖ A metaphorical expression can be just one word, or it can be a phrase or a sentence It is even possible to regard an entire story as a metaphor for life or the world (Goatly, 2011: 109) The following part will look into the structure and mechanics of metaphor in order to arrive at a definition of metaphor that will be used in this study 2.2.2 How metaphor structures our thoughts According to Lakoff and Johnson‘s theory, a conceptual metaphor is a concept about the world By adding the conceptual level to the linguistic level of metaphor, the theory of conceptual metaphor expands the idea of metaphor This means that metaphor consists of conceptual metaphors, which is cognitive in nature, and various linguistic expressions of these conceptual metaphors (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003: 50) We can take TIME IS MONEY metaphor as a common example of how metaphor is more than a matter of language, this metaphor enable us to use expressions such as ―that flat tire cost me an hour‟ (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003: 8), TIME IS MONEY metaphor also allows us to treat our time as something value that should not be wasted or should at least be spent or even invested wisely APPENDIX A: LIFE IS A JOURNEY APPENDIX B: LIFE IS A FIGHTING/ LIFE IS A BATTLE APPENDIX C: LIFE IS FIRE/ HEAT/ WARMTH APPENDIX D: LIFE IS LIGHT/ LIFE IS DAYTIME APPENDIX E: DEATH IS THE END OF A JOURNEY APPENDIX F: DEATH IS COLD APPENDIX G: DEATH IS NIGHT/ DEATH IS DARKNESS APPENDIX H: DEATH IS REST/ DEATH IS SLEEP II APPENDIX A: LIFE IS A JOURNEY No Source domain Journey Traveler Different Roads APPENDIX B: LIFE IS A FIGHTING/ LIFE IS A BATTLE No Sourc doma Battl Oppone IV Strugg for w struggle for survival continued to wage with all its ancient brutality (The god of his father) Already, over unknown trails and chartless wildernesses, were the harbingers of the steel arriving, - fair-faced, blue-eyed, indomitable men, incarnations of the unrest of their race By accident or design, single-handed and in twos and threes, they came from no one knew whither, and fought, or died, or passed on, no one knew whence So many an unsung wanderer fought his last and died under the cold fire of the aurora, as did his brothers in burning sands and reeking jungles, and as they shall continue to till in the fulness of time the destiny of their race be achieved (The god of his father) To live is to toil hard, and to suffer sore, till Old Age creeps heavily upon us and we throw down our hands on the cold ashes of dead fires In pain the babe sucks his first breath, in pain the old man gasps his last, and all his days are full of trouble and sorrow; yet he goes down to the open arms of Death, stumbling, falling, with head turned backward, fighting to the last (The grit of woman) Two died under it; others were injured for life; and the rest took the lesson to heart and ran away no more (Lost face) VI Surren battl APPENDIX C: LIFE IS FIRE/ HEAT/ WARMTH No S d D Ma t IX Light is out APPENDIX D: LIFE IS LIGHT Source domain Light / daytime X APPENDIX E: DEATH IS THE END OF A JOURNEY No Sourc doma Travel Fina destinat Source domain cold fire) But the tremendous cold had already driven the life out of his fingers (To build a fire) He was losing in his battle with the frost (To build a fire) A good idea, he thought, to sleep off to death It was like taking an anaesthetic Freezing was not so bad as people thought There were lots worse ways to die (To build a fire) And all things were dead There were no ptarmigan, no squirrels, no snowshoe rabbits, nothing The river made no sound beneath its white robes The sap was frozen in the forest And it became cold, as now; and in the night the stars drew near and large, and leaped and danced; and in the day the sun-dogs mocked us till we saw many suns, and all the air flashed and sparkled, and the snow was diamond dust And there was no heat, no sound, only the bitter cold and the Silence (The grit of woman) And when she grew cold in my arms I arose, and sought out the well-filled pouch, and girt on my snowshoes, and staggered along the trail (The grit of woman) XIII APPENDIX H: DEATH IS REST/ DEATH IS SLEEP Source domain Night/ darkness XIV DEATH IS REST/ DEATH IS SLEEP Source domain Sleep/ Rest living that are dead? (The flush of gold) The dead men came out of their graves more frequently now, and rarely left him, waking or sleeping He grew to wait and dread their coming, never passing the twin cairns without a shudder One night they came to him in his sleep and led him forth to an appointed task (In a far country) XVI ... image in Jack London? ??s short stories After the investigation into conceptual metaphors for Life and Death in short stories by Jack London in the light of cognitive perspective by Lakoff and Johnson,... find out the mapping of conceptual metaphors for Life and Death in some short stories by Jack London It is expected that with the finding established, an overview of LIFE and DEATH metaphors in. .. language teaching and learning This thesis aims to analyze metaphorical sayings of Life and Death from the cognitive perspective, i.e to view the sayings of Life and Death from the perspective