Analysis of Metaphors in The Old Man and the Sea from the Perspective of Cognitive Linguistics

Abstract

There has been growing interest in investigating metaphors in literary works recently. However, most studies in the field of metaphor have only focused on its rhetorical function. However, little research has been carried out from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. This study adopts a cognitive linguistics approach to explore how conceptual metaphors function in literary works based on some analyses of the well-known novel The Old Man and the Sea from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. The results show that conceptual metaphors do play a very important role which helps people comprehend literary works much better. In the point of cognitive linguistics, metaphor is a kind of mapping tool and plays an important role in understanding some abstract concepts with specific things. Therefore, conceptual metaphors could definitely reveal the thinking mode of mankind to a great degree. And this study confirms the complex association between conceptual metaphors and The Old Man and the Sea. On the one hand, the findings in this study seek to understand and explain the role of metaphors in novel writing. On the other hand, it also presents a new way of appreciating literary works.