IN image schema

次第， 20

158 As the concluding sentence, it consists of two lines. The line 20 is the adverbial including the determiner ‘ ’ meaning ‘this’ and the head-noun ‘次第’ meaning ‘situation’. ɥhe line 21 is an exclamative sentence ‘怎一个愁字了得！’ meaning ‘how inadequate the word sorrow is’. ɥhis conveys the exclamation that, in this situation, the word sorrow is inadequate to express all the grief. As the ending of the poem, this sentence brings the previous melancholy of the whole poem to a culmination as a conclusion. The instance of the IN image schema is presented in the adverbial ‘in this situation’. ɥhe figure/trajector is the one who suffers from all the struggles described in the poem and the ground is the adverbial, ‘this situation’. ɥhis sufferer could be the poet herself as mentioned earlier (5.2.2 First stanza). As a commonly used phrase, ‘in this situation’ seems nothing special. But it contains the application of the Container Metaphors defined by Lakoff & Johnson (1980:29-32) (see 3.3.1.3). In line 20 ‘in this situation’, the abstract concept ‘this situation’ is metaphorically seen as CONTAINER OBJECT with a boundary. Hence, the miserable experiences are seen as a territory that can be entered into or moved out. Lakoff and Johnson explains that ‘the metaphor is a natural one that emerges from the fact that, when you look at some territory (land, floor space, etc.), you field of vision defines a boundary of the territory, namely, the part that you can see’ (1980:30). ɥhis is how we conceptualize the abstract concept such as ‘situation’ as a space with boundary, which links with the application of the IN image schema. For this IN image schema, ɤtockwell explains this image schema as, ‘in this conceptual structure, the trajector creates a path from a starting point outside the landmark to an ending point in which the landmark contains the trajector’ (2002a:23). A simple example can be seen in ‘Mao came into the house’. ɥhe figure, ‘Mao’, moves from the outside of the landmark, ‘the house’ to the inside of the house and ‘the house’ contains ‘Mao’. ɤo in this IN image schema, the trajector, the poet, follows the path from a starting point out of the landmark to a resting point in which the landmark, ‘this situation’, contains the trajector. ɥhe dynamic process of the sufferer moves into the ‘this situation’ which receives conceptual prominence. It seems different from the previous locative expression in the way that the

159 landmark here is an abstract domain, but Lakoff & Turner confirm its validity stating that ‘image schema can be used to structure both physical scenes and abstract domains’ (1989:98). As mentioned earlier, as the ending of the poem, this sentence seems to bring all the earlier attentions to a conclusion. Thus, ‘ 次第’ (this situation) suggests the specific situation where all the sorrowful experiences the poet has previously experienced are included. Through this IN image schema, the prominence generated emphasizes the poet’s sorrowfulness. ɥogether with the clause which expresses the exclamation that ‘一个愁字’ (one word sorrow) is far from being adequate to deliver the degree of grief, the significantly high degree of sorrow is delivered to Chinese readers.

5.4 Conclusion

I have analysed the source text with the cognitive stylistic theory of figure and ground. Table 5.1 below shows all the instances of image schema identified in the source text:

Table 5.1 Image Schema in the Source Text

Source text Image schemas

Lines 4-5 OUT image schema

Lines 6-8 AGAINST image schema

Lines 9-11 OVER image schema

Lines 12-14 OVER image schema

UP image schema UP image schema

Lines 15-16 OVER image schema

Lines 17-19 ON image schema

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Lines 20-21 IN image schema

As mentioned earlier (see 5.2 The ancient Chinese poem), one of the striking characteristics of the poet Qingzhao Li, is that Sheng Sheng Man expresses sorrow inexplicitly through these detailed descriptions of surroundings. Therefore I argue that a significant degree of awareness of grief is delivered to Chinese readers through the conceptual prominence generated by the dynamic processes in these image schemas. As I have discussed above, the effects of visualizing the text in three-dimensional scenes enables readers to get close to the interpretation of the poem. Stockwell believes ‘reading a literary text is a dynamic experience, involving a process of renewing attention to create and follow the relations between figure and ground’ (2002a:18). ɥhe figure presented in this poem changes from abstract concepts such as the abrupt warmth (line 4-5) and coming darkness (line 15-16) to physical objects such as the geese (lines 9-11) and yellow flowers (lines 12-14). Through these changes of figural elements in relation to their locative expressions, the poem seems to guide readers through a filmic process with emphases on various difficulties in each scene which are given conceptual prominence. As a result, the sorrow integrated in these scenes is greatly emphasized.

From the beginning of this chapter, I have presented the source text in the thesis, the ancient Chinese poem Sheng Sheng Man, in Chinese. The rather short biography of the poet Qingzhao Li might offer those who are unfamiliar with her poetry some background knowledge in relation to the particular poem I chose. Although there may be variations regarding the interpretations of certain aspects in the poem, my demonstration should be adequate to give English readers a reliable interpretation of the poem. The stylistic analysis conducted through the poem is in detail, including the form of the locative relationships and the effects generated by the presence of image schemas. As mentioned in a previous chapter (3.2.7, 3.3.1.2, 4.4.1), locative relations are universal for human beings. This means that both Chinese readers and English readers receive the same cognitive

161 process the locative expressions convey, despite linguistic or cultural differences. So using the stylistic analysis of the source text as the only reference, evaluating the faithfulness of the target text based on image schemas could be more objective than the intangible traditional notion, ‘poetic spirit’, can ever be. ɥhe outcome of the evaluation also should be falsifiable. In the next chapter, I will initiate the stylistic analyses of the six English translations and evaluate them by comparing them against the source text.

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