An Analysis of the Image Schemas and Superstructure in The Little Prince
Vol. 44 No. 2 6/2014
Title |
An Analysis of the Image Schemas and Superstructure in The Little Prince |
Author |
Lin, Chien-hung/ Chang, Jung-hsing |
Genre |
Article |
Pages |
283-315 |
Download |
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Language |
Chinese |
Key words |
The Little Prince, image schemas, discourse interpretation, superstructure, metaphor |
Abstract |
The Little Prince, the French classic by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, conveys profound life philosophy by means of simple phrasing. This paper provides an analysis of Wei-an Cheng’s Mandarin translation of The Little Prince based on the theory of image schemas (Lakoff & Johnson 1999). We illustrate how image schemas are used for the interpretation of discourse in The Little Prince, and show that the work includes various image schemas, such as CONTAINER, UP-DOWN, and CIRCLE; these schemas can serve as the structures for metaphorical interpretations. We also demonstrate how these image schemas are integrated as a compound image schema (Kimmel 2005), which functions as the superstructure of the work (Dijk 1980), and how this is employed to structure the context and organize the readers’ interpretations. |