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1、~lltrallhltELSEVIERJournalofPragmatics24(1995)643~566Metaphormakingmeaning:Dickinson'sconceptualuniverseMargaretH.FreemanDepartmentofEnglish,LosAngelesValleyCollege,5800FultonAvenue,VanNuys,CA91401-4096,USAAbstractIfmeaning,understanding,andreasoninginhuma
2、nlanguageareachievedthroughbod-ilyexperienceandfigurativeprocesses,asrecentworkincognitivelinguisticshasargued,thenthetraditionalnotionofaseparationinkindbetweenordinarydiscourseandpoeticlan-guagenolongerholds.Metaphormaking,underthisview,isnotperipheralbu
3、tcentraltoourreasoningprocesses,notuniquetopoeticalthinkingbutthatwhichissharedbybothordinarydiscourseandthelanguageofpoetry.Poets,then,intheirmetaphormaking,serveasarbitersofandcommentatorsonthewayhumansunderstandandinterprettheirworld.MuchofDickinson'spo
4、etryisstructuredbytheextenttowhichsherejectedthedominantmetaphorofherreligiousenvironment,thatofLIFEISAJOURNEYTHROUGHTIME,andreplaceditwithametaphormoreinaccordancewiththelatestscientificdiscoveriesofherday,thatofLIFEISAVOYAGEINSPACE.Examplesfromherpoemssh
5、owhowtheschemasofPATHandCYCLEandtheAIRISSEAimagemetaphorcontributetoacoherentandconsistentpatterningthatatthesametimereflectsaphysicallyembodiedworldandcreatesDickin-son'sconceptualuniverse.I.IntroductionDoesmeaningmakemetaphor?Ordoesmetaphormakemeaning?Th
6、eortho-doxview,dominantinthetraditionthatcomesdowntousfromPlatoandAristo-tle,seesmetaphorasmerelyimitativeofanobjectivereality,arealitythatcanbeknownindependentlyofhumanparticipation.Withtheriseofmodemscience,however,andparticularlyinthephilosophyofKant,su
7、chpresuppositionsabouttherelationofhumancognitiontoourunderstandingofphysicalrealityandthe'truths'ofthisworldhavebeencalledintoquestion.Kantadvancedthedebatebetweentheempiricalandrationalapproachestothesequestionsbyacknowledg-ingthathumanperceptionofphysic
8、alrealitywasstructuredbyapre-existingcog-nitive'framework';Einsteinfurtheredthedebateinthetwentiethcenturybyshowingthatrealityispartiallyconstitutedbyhumanparticipationinthephysical0378-2166/95/$09.50©1995Els