鲍勃迪伦歌词中的概念隐喻

1、ContentsAbstractii摘要iiiChapter 1 Introduction11.1 Research Background11.2 Significance of the Research11.3 Organization of Thesis2Chapter 2 Literature Review42.1 Conceptual Metaphor42.1.1 Definition of Conceptual Metaphor42.1.2 Previous studies on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT)42.1.3 Application o

2、f Conceptual Metaphor52.2 Previous Studies on Lyrics52.3 Previous studies on Bob Dylan and his lyrics62.4 Summary8Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework93.1 Conceptual Metaphor Theory93.1.1 Nature and Basis of Conceptual Metaphor Theory93.1.2 Classification of Conceptual Metaphor103.1.3 Mapping: the Workin

3、g Mechanism of Conceptual Metaphor103.2 Metaphor Identification113.2.1 Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP)113.2.2 Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU)123.3 Summary13Chapter 4 Metaphor in Lyrics of Bob Dylan164.1 Life Metaphor164.2 Love Metaphor174.3 Political Metaphor184.

4、4 Religious Metaphor19Chapter 5 Conclusion225.1 Major Findings225.2 Limitations and Suggestions for further studies23References24Acknowledgements27Appendix28扉页一28Abstract With the recognizable hoarse voice, messy curly hair, a pair of squared sunglasses and a harmonica that is settled above the thwa

5、rtwise guitar, Bob Dylan slightly bows to the microphone, singing while looking humbly at the moon, or heaven. Being called “the voice of the generation”, he is one of the most important singer-song writers in American music history, and the social icon in America from 1960s to 1970s. He has won num

6、erous prizes including the Art Outstanding Achievement Award of the French Academy of Arts, the Grammy Life Achievement Award, Kennedy Center Honor Award, the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and the Pulitzer Prize for Special Honors. In 2016, Dylan was appointed the laureate of Nobel Prize in

7、Literature, and became the first singer ever to receive this prize. The decision made by the Swedish Academy raised wide discussion in international media and academia. Previous studies in Bob Dylan have analyzed in various aspects including the references in his lyrics, his unique voice, ways of pe

8、rformance and multiple personae. This thesis will analyze the lyrics of 15 songs selected from three albums of Bob Dylans essentials by using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. What the thesis intends to do is to find the conceptual metaphors in Bob Dylans lyrics and the meanings behind them. This thes

9、is aims to answer the following questions: (1) What target domains appear in these lyrics? (2) What is conveyed throughthe mapping from the source domain to the target domain? (3) Why is Bob Dylan popular among people from different regions, social class, and age groups? This thesis categorizes the

10、target domains in the 15 songs into life metaphor, love metaphor, political metaphor and religious metaphor. The use of source domain and the process of mapping of these four kinds of metaphor have been analyzed. The analysis reveals the literary and musical traditions in Bob Dylans songs, his inter

11、national focus and philanthropism. Key words: conceptual metaphor, pop music, lyrics, Bob Dylan摘要 辨识度极高的沙哑嗓音、凌乱的卷发与漆黑的方形墨镜、被一身同色西装映衬得苍白的脸孔、横抱的吉他和用铁丝架在其上的口琴，以及歌唱时弯下腰斜望着不知月光还是上帝的姿态，让鲍勃·迪伦成为上世纪六十至七十年代美国社会的集体偶像。他是美国音乐历史上最重要的唱作人之一，被誉为“时代的声音”，曾获法兰西学院文学艺术杰出成就奖、格莱美终身成就奖、肯尼迪中心荣誉奖、奥斯卡最佳原创歌曲奖、普利策特别荣誉奖等奖项，

12、并在2016 年获得诺贝尔文学奖，成为第一位获此殊荣的歌手。瑞典学院的这一决定引起了国际媒体和学界的广泛讨论。以往对鲍勃迪伦的研究已从其歌词的典故、独特的唱腔、舞台风格及表演人格等角度进行了分析。本文将借助概念隐喻理论、隐喻识别程序（MIP）和映射理论，挑选其三张精选集中十五首歌的歌词进行分析，尝试找出其中存在的概念隐喻，并分析这些概念隐喻从始源域到目标域的映射过程，从而探知它们所要表达的思想。本文旨在回答以下问题：（1）这十五首歌中主要出现了哪些目标域？（2）从始源域到目标域的映射过程传达了鲍勃迪伦的什么思想？（3）为什么鲍勃迪伦会受到来自不同国家、阶层、年龄的人的广泛欢迎？本文把鲍勃迪伦最

13、受喜爱的15首歌的歌词按目标域分成了人生隐喻、爱情隐喻、政治隐喻和宗教隐喻四类，分析了每一类中始源域的使用和映射的过程，并探析了这些概念隐喻所反映出的鲍勃迪伦作品对文学和音乐传统的继承，以及对全人类无差别的博爱与关怀。关键词：概念隐喻、流行音乐、歌词、鲍勃·迪伦Chapter 1 Introduction1.1 Research BackgroundBob Dylan is the 2016 Nobel Laureate in literature and one of the greatest singer songwriters in the world. This decisi

14、on made by Sweden Academy gave rise to broad debates in various fields of study. The debate over Dylans Nobel Prize qualification is basically about four key questions: Should Dylans songs be regarded as poems? Should Dylan be counted as a literary figure? Can the music genre he created (literary po

15、p song) represent the edges of literature which makes it eligible of consideration for the prize? And should the Nobel Prize in Literature limit the term literature within poetry, drama, novel, short story to exclude literary song, oratory, graphic novel, and prose accomplishments in the humanities

16、and social sciences? The first time I ever heard of Bob Dylan is a documentary about the history of rock music. A thin man with a cigarette in his hands wears sarcasm on his face. His raspy voice on the stage is like the sound of ducks, not even the smoke voice that is sometimes regarded as sexy. Hi

17、s performances are quite ordinary, compared to most of stars in America 1960s whose movements often contain sexual intimations byplay. What, then, makes Bob Dylan not only star, but social icon that has deeply influenced the values and attitudes of the young, frustrated post-war generation? That lea

18、ds to another question: why is Dylan popular among nearly all groups of people from workers to scholars, local America to Spanish-speaking world, and rich to poor? (Scott, 2017) I suggest this kind of charm comes from the lyrics he wrote which reflect international focus, literal tradition and the s

19、hared experience of human being. And I choose to unveil those elements by using conceptual metaphor theory, because in Dylans lyrics there are abundant examples of metaphor use which I think reflect what he thought and what he tried to tell the listeners. 1.2 Significance of the ResearchWhat this th

20、esis intends to do is applying some of the tools of linguistics to the songs recorded by Dylan and see if the findings can teach us something of his brilliant world of meaning and images. This world has been a huge attraction and inspiration to all walks of life such as Steve Jobs, the former CEO of

21、 Apple who praised Bob Dylan as his instructor for life; Haruki Murakami, a nominate for Nobel Prize in literature for several times and Yohji Yamamoto, an influential fashion designer, to name a few. This thesis also tries to justify Bob Dylans Nobel Prize with previous evidence and new finding in

22、a closer look at his lyrics. The previous application of conceptual metaphor theory is often on commercials and politics research. Only a few attentions have been put in pop music because it requires musicology background to conduct a cross-disciplinary research; besides, pop music is taken as mere

23、entertainment to the ignorance of its power in teaching, affecting and inspiring people. But this thesis argues that pop music plays a significant role in shaping the cognitive system of the listeners, thus influencing their thoughts and behaviors. For example, gospel music in church deepens pilgrim

24、s praise and believes for God. The lyrics of American rap songs sometimes contain violence, crimes and dirty words, which have been proved detrimental to teenagers. Finally, the thesis aims to bring into focus the importance of lyrics in the Bob Dylan research, as some dylanologist claims Bob Dylans

25、 audience usually does not actually read the lyrics (Lebold, 2007). However, experience tells us that great hits repeated in the shops, radios and television strengthen peoples impression on its lyrics, same effect as catchy lines used in advertisement. We can recite the lyrics of National Anthem wi

26、thout closely studying every word. Therefore my point is the audiences know Bob Dylans lyrics due to the high popularity in decades, and more or less influenced by the conceptual metaphor contained in those words. 1.3 Organization of ThesisThis thesis is developed in five parts including a summary o

27、f related studies, an introduction to the theoretical framework with a sample presentation, the analysis of selected song lyrics, and the conclusion drawn from it. The literature review will be put in the following chapter. This thesis will review the foundation and development of conceptual metapho

28、r, studies in lyrics in terms of affecting peoples emotion, and studies in Bob Dylans works, performance and personae in the recent twenty years. Chapter three will elaborate on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) and its advantages to this thesis compared w

29、ith MIPVU. A sample analysis of an excerpt of the song Like a Rolling Stone will be given in the summary part of this chapter. Chapter four deals with the analysis of lyrics of fifteen songs selected from Bob Dylans essentials. Metaphors contained in these lyrics, in terms of target domain, are cate

30、gorized into life metaphor, love metaphor, political metaphor and religious metaphor. Chapter five is the conclusion part of the whole thesis. This chapter summarizes the major finding from the analysis in chapter four, and also provides some suggestions for future research due to the limitations of

31、 this thesis. Chapter 2 Literature ReviewIn this chapter, major studies in three fields including conceptual metaphor theory, in the psychological effect of song lyrics and in Bob Dylan will be compared, summarized and commented. The part of conceptual metaphor theory is organized in time order for

32、the convenience of viewing its foundation and development, while the part reviewing Bob Dylan researches is classified and compared, as the conclusions given by most dylanologists are polarized.2.1 Conceptual Metaphor2.1.1 Definition of Conceptual MetaphorThe term “Conceptual Metaphor” was put forth

33、 by American linguist George Lakoff with the co-writer Mark Johnson in Metaphors We Live By (1980). In this book, Lakoff differentiated the conceptual metaphor from rhetorical metaphor. The latter is widely used in proses and poems for the artistic effect, while the former has more profound influenc

34、e on peoples mind and is more unnoticeable in daily life. According to the conceptual metaphor theory, metaphor is a kind of cognitive method which is, in its heart, unconscious and conceptual.2.1.2 Previous studies on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT)The most important opinion of Metaphors We Live B

35、y (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) is that metaphor is not simply a rhetoric device. It helps to form the conceptual system of human being. George Lakoff & Mark Johnson found the systematic feature of metaphorical conception by throwing some examples of structural metaphors. This book extends the co

36、nduit metaphor theory of Michael Reddy (1979) and the orientational metaphors theory of William Nagy (1974). By elaborating the ontological metaphor BRAIN IS MACHINE that deeply rooted in almost every culture, Lakoff & Johnson argued that our experience (especially physical experience) with natu

37、ral objects is the foundation of various metaphors, offering the ways to take events, activities, emotion, thoughts, etc. as entities. Metaphors influence not only the meaning but also the form of language, which explains grammatical rules including the usage of conjunctions of English. New metaphor

38、s constantly emerge, bringing reverberation of our own experience like love and life. In the process of metaphor creating, the new metaphor highlights some features of experience and ignores the other. A new metaphor contains specific feature and gives old experience a new definition which to some e

39、xtent directs our behaviors and transforms our attitudes when we experience similar things in the future. But the influence that a new metaphor has upon us depends on our culture and past experience. However, Charles Fillmore (1982) pointed out the inconsistency of conceptual metaphor showed in two

40、different ways of describing the order of time. This argument actually helped Lakoff to find the deeply hidden metaphor TIME IS MOVING OBJECT which may contain and explain both ways of time descriptions. Following Lakoff & Johnsons arguments, Chen Zhong discussed metaphors in the view of cogniti

41、ve linguistics in The Research of Cognitive Linguistics and Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics. In the translation and introduction of foreign metaphor theories, some Chinese scholars remained critical attitudes toward them. Liu Zhengguang (2001) thinks Lakoffs theories are “limited by its own th

42、eoretical base and methodology, has its own inevitable inadequacies and leaves some room for improvement”.2.1.3 Application of Conceptual MetaphorThere are many examples of the CMT application that are not limited in the field of linguistics, but cross disciplines and culture. In recent years, domes

43、tic scholars study in conceptual metaphors in the works of certain writers in order to adjust their methods of translating. In language teaching, conceptual metaphor is one of the research focuses. It is reported the ability of understanding conceptual metaphor helps to build up the vocabularies of

44、language learners. Website and software design use conceptual metaphor flexibly. For example, Windows operating system developed by Microsoft visualizes the complicated programming, and names and signals each functional part metaphorically. It is found that metaphor use in companies like classifying

45、 teams into “military team”, “community team” and “sports team” can boost the team spirit and makes each employee clear about the responsibility and desirable interaction. 2.2 Previous Studies on LyricsLyrics are words that make up a song usually consisting of verses and choruses. The meaning of lyr

46、ics can either be explicit or implicit. Rappers can also create lyrics that are meant to be spoken rhythmically rather than sung. The application of conceptual metaphor on lyrics, though less researched, still catches some international attentions. Schröder Ulrike et al. (2018) researched on me

47、taphors in Brazilian and German rap lyrics on basis of a corpus of 150 rap lyrics taken from Brazilian culture and 150 from German culture. Their research demonstrated that cultural variation is related to the specific mapping parts involved. A group of Japanese psychiatrists in Ritsumeikan Universi

48、ty pointed out “Attractive phrases can be used as indexes of a song, because it is strongly connected to human affection.” (Yamanishi,2014, p.167) The team also proved “Lyrical features cause attraction of phrases that are not in chorus parts” by an experiment on eight subjects. Domestic researcher

49、Tang Lumin (2017) points out lyricists may have the same ideas and emotions with their audience, which is why the lyrics with intensive Chinese culture elements written by Fang Wenshan would have been so popular among Chinese music lovers. She also mentions by knowing about songs that teenagers fanc

50、y, educators can better understand the psychology of young people. For Zhang Liyan (2017), metaphor is a necessary component of song lyrics. Likewise, XinDa (2016) points out conceptual metaphors are more used in narrative songs than in scenery songs and reasoning songs. However, container metaphors

51、 and orientational metaphors are universal in all kinds of songs. One limitation shown in both of the studies of Zhang Liyan and Xin Da is that some metaphor descriptions are not faithful to the original versions due to translation. For instance, Zhangs research on inner Mongolia grassland songs tra

52、nslates Mongolian lyrics to Chinese, and then to English. The English translation sacrifices faithfulness for rhyming. 2.3 Previous studies on Bob Dylan and his lyricsThe studies on the artistry of Bob Dylan commonly fall into three groups: lyrics analyzing, performance observing, and personae descr

53、ibing. The studies in lyrics found that Dylans lyrics show strong links with tradition of both culture and literature. Dylan's main music sources include British ballads, cowboy or hillbilly songs, Negro hollers and blues, and gospel music both black and white (Mellers, 1985), and the Beat Gener

54、ation (Varesi, 2001). Some of his line quoted or modified time-honored masters of the pen including Tennyson, Shakespeare, Rossetti, Blake, and the Bible (Ricks, 2003).Chinese comparatist Kuang Mingyan also found abundant metaphors and references from the Holy Bible in Dylans lyrics. Dylans referenc

55、e list is added with Virgil, Mark Twain, Junichi Saga and Ovid(Richard F. Thomas, 2007). Jean-Charles Khalifa shares similar research interest on text analysis. He applies corpus linguistics to Dylans lyrics, and finds the least frequent verb is “will”. Besides, the top ten adjectives are not as imp

56、ressive and flamboyant as the researcher expected (Khalifa, 2007). My explanation for this “plainness” is that those frequently used adjectives like “good” and “small” are unavoidable in writing, especially to a large corpus. Another significant finding is the use of synesthesia, i.e. using more vow

57、el word to create a colorful and visionary wonder.Dylan certainly use lyrics to express his views on life, politics, religions and social events, and he does it so skillfully. Christopher Ricks (2011), one of the representative experts on lyrics analyzing, says Hattie Carroll is a supreme understand

58、ing of the difference between writing a political song and writing a song politically. Hattie Carroll is one of Dylan's greatest political songs, not so much because it has a political subject as because everything in it is seen under the aspect of politics. Michael Rodgers (2012) selects three

59、songs from his 1960s trilogy and argues that Dylan problematizes the interrelationship between art, theft, and ownership. He challenges, toys with, and appropriates cultural images in order to continually question the concept of proprietorship whilst rescuing cultural images from esoterica and attempting to put them back into the public domain.Howe