Table of Contents
Acknowledgements....................................................................ⅰ
Abstract in English.................................................................ⅱ
Abstract in Chinese.................................................................ⅲ
Contents............................................................................ⅳ
Chapter 1 Introduction...............................................................1
1.1 The Definition of Metaphor.....................................................2
1.2 Animal Metaphors and Culture...................................................2
Chapter 2 Literature Review..........................................................4
Chapter 3 Similarities and Differences between English and Chinese on Animal Words—A Comparative Study....................................................................7
3.1 Same Animal Words, Same Meanings.................................................7
3.2 Same Animal Words, Different Meanings............................................9
3.3 Different Animal Words, Same Meanings...........................................11
Chapter 4 Factors of The Formation of Animal Metaphors..............................12
4.1 The Social Cultural Factors of The Formation of Animal Metaphors................12
4.1.1 Different Regional Culture....................................................12
4.1.2 Different Religious Beliefs...................................................13
4.1.3 Different Ways of Thinking....................................................13
4.2 Possible Factors for Difficulties in Understanding of Animal Metaphors..........14
4.2.1 Objective Factors.............................................................14
4.2.2 Subjective Factors............................................................15
Chapter 5 Ways and Strategies to Improve Understanding Animal Metaphors.............17
5.1 Be Aware of The Cultural Meaning of Words.......................................17
5.2 Supplement Culture Backgrounds..................................................17
5.3 Develop The Interest of Animals in Daily Life...................................17
5.4 Expand The Ability of Discussion with Others....................................18
5.5 Show Great Interest of Different Cultures.......................................18
Chapter 6 Conclusion................................................................20
Bibliography........................................................................23
Abstract
Animal metaphor is an expression with cultural association through using animals as vehicle. It symbolizes people or things with similar characters by using the animal with vivid image, outstanding character and people are familiar with. There exist many animal metaphors in both Chinese and English, but objective cultural backgrounds and subjective factors also bring some difficulties in comprehension. For example, some of them have the same conceptual meaning but different pragmatic meaning, while some have the same pragmatic meaning but do not have the corresponding image meaning, and also some of them cannot make comparisons because of different regional culture. As to the subjective factors, that might include people’s different interests in animals and different ability of association, etc.
Nowadays many studies on animal metaphors are just limited to a brief list of some simple cultural phenomena from a cultural perspective or to a list of animals. Those studies haven’t systematically explored the process of understanding animal metaphors.
This thesis aims to discuss some typical animal metaphors by making comparisons, and then analyze some factors which lead to misunderstanding and finally give some suggestions and strategies to improve the comprehension.
By this comparative study, we find that the misunderstanding is mainly from the objective factors, such as different cultural background and regional culture. However, people’s subjective factors also bring difficulties to the understanding of animal metaphors. Therefore besides adopting more effective theories and cultural backgrounds, also people should expand their own interests in animals and develop the ability of discussing and associating as much information as possible about animals in different cultures, so as to come to the cultural fusion between Chinese and English.
Key Words: animal metaphor cultural difference comparative analysis
内容摘要
