Metaphorical frame and conceptual integration in stories for children: The relation between philosophy and cognition

• Main Authors: Chiang Chien-Chih, 蔣建智
• Other Authors: Norman Y. Teng
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2001
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/80373361664605973702

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 哲學研究所 === 89 === Abstract In the study of stories for children, many research areas, namely rhetoric, theme, writing style and structure, have had rich results, yet we have not seen any research regarding metaphorical frames and conceptual integration in these areas. The primary objective of the thesis is to analyze the metaphorical frames and conceptual integration in children stories, using the Two-Domain Model proposed by Lakoff and Johnson and the Many Space Model by Fauconnier and Turner respectively, and hence to understand the cognitive activities in story thinking and narrative imagination. Aiming at this objective, I focused on two major questions: (1) how metaphor frames the themes and structures of stories for children; (2) how we understand the cognitive activities that involve metaphorical or non-metaphorical understanding in story thinking. Finally, I discussed the significance of story thinking and the concept of self in children stories from philosophical perspectives. In my analysis, I found that there are some fairly rich metaphorical messages in children stories. On the one hand, they are not just a kind of rhetoric style; rather, they are systematic cross-domain mappings in the conceptual system. Metaphor frames the structures and themes of stories and constrains the development of stories. On the other hand, conceptual integration is a basic cognitive operation for creating new meanings. Conceptual integration is dynamic, supple, and active at the moment of thinking. It provides us with a way to know how the cognitive activities involve metaphorical or non-metaphorical understanding in story thinking. Through the analysis of metaphorical frames and conceptual integration, we understood better about the interesting aspects of the children story. From philosophical and cognitive perspectives, story thinking is not only a kind of thinking, but also a kind of imagination, creativity, and a game. Stories help children to think and solve problems, share life experiences and friendship, understand and construct self-concept in our lives. A story is a form of cooperative play and joint activity as well. Through stories children make up imagination with their bodies, actions, sounds, eyes, and intonation. And their living is fulfilled. They consider stories as games, and use them to construct their own world and to understand themselves. We might think that storytelling is a special performance rather than a constant mental activity. Storytelling is, in fact, a kind of mental activity essential to human thought.