关联理论与隐喻类广告交际
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摘要
随着经济全球化的发展,广告作为交际的作用变得日益重要。在现代商业广告中,隐喻已经成为广告语言的一个鲜明特点。本文作者试图在关联理论的框架内对广告交际中的隐喻现象进行分析。
论文首先介绍与分析了对广告以及隐喻的几类研究方法。第三章详细介绍了关联理论。关联是个比较性的概念,关联性的大小与认知效果和认知努力两个因素有关。在等同条件下,认知效果越大,关联性越大;认知努力越小,关联性越大。作者提出一个更具体化的关联性与认知效果和认知努力的等式关系,虽然仍不能将关联性量化,但能较直接清晰地表示三者间的关系。关联理论的两条基本原则分别是:认知关联原则——人类的认知倾向于同最大程度的关联性相吻合;交际关联原则——每个话语都应设想为话语本身具备最佳的关联性。交际是一个涉及信息意图和交际意图的一个明示—推理过程,即对认知环境进行认知和互明的过程。作者就理解过程提出一个具体流程图,形象地表示听话人的理解是根据说话人的明示行为并运用推理认知能力来求得语境效果,从而选择符合最佳关联原则解释的推理过程。此流程图强调了动态的认知语境观,即听话人选择的语境不断地扩大并被所得的语境假设而改变。
平面广告以书面语篇为交际形式,与其它任何形式的言语交际不存在本质差异。隐喻是基于事物间的相似性而产生的,相似性也是一种关联性。因此关联理论以及作者在第三章中的提议对于广告交际中的隐喻同样具有解释力。第四章运用第三章的理论分析广告交际中的隐喻。隐喻是有效吸引注意、用更少语言表达更多含义的一种手段,它能巧妙传达只可意会不可言传的涵义,拉近与读者的距离,而不用对某些深层涵义负责。作者也提出了一个流程图来解释隐喻的理解过程,它是读者运用推理认知能力,不断扩大语境、得出弱隐含的过程,得出的隐含同时也改变了语境。
作者搜集和筛选了大量主流英语杂志的广告,在第五章中使用以上理论分析了多则经典广告隐喻的案例,着重分析认知语境的动态变化以及得出隐含的强弱变化,发现关联理论对广告交际中的隐喻现象可作很好的诠释。其余有代表性的隐喻广告则列于附录。本文希望能有助于中国的广告人更深入地理解英文广告,提高其在国际广告战中的竞争力。同时对广告的读者来说,如何揭示广告传达的意图则具有实践的价值。
Advertising has become an important international communication due to globalization of economy. Metaphor is frequently adopted in modern commercial advertising and turns out to be an effective and distinctive device. This thesis analyzes metaphors in advertising communication within the framework of Relevance Theory.
We start with a literature review on various approaches to advertising language and metaphor. Chapter Three explains Relevance Theory in detail. Relevance is non-demonstrative and is influenced by two factors—cognitive effects and processing effort. Other things being equal, the greater the cognitive effects, the greater the relevance; other things being equal, the smaller the processing effort, the greater the relevance. We propose an equation to clarify the relationship among the three notions. The two principles of relevance are: the Cognitive Principle that human cognition tends to be geared to the maximization of relevance; and the Communicative Principle that every utterance communicates a presumption of its own optimal relevance. Human language communication is regarded as an ostensive-inferential cognitive process, namely the process of cognition and mutual manifestness of the cognitive environments. We propose a flowchart to explain the addressee's comprehension procedure, i.e. the addressee produces the cognitive effects and chooses the explanation of the optimal relevance by using the ostensive information provided by the communicator's ostensive behaviors and the addressee's inferential cognitive ability. The flowchart reflects the dynamic view of context, as the addressee chooses and extends the context and at the same time, the context is changed by existing contextual assumptions.
In print advertising, the verbal text is employed as the main channel for communication which is similar to other forms of communications. Metaphor is formed based on the resemblance between things, which is also relevant. Therefore, Relevance Theory can also be applied to metaphor in advertising communication. Relevance Theory and the author's proposals in Chapter Three apply in the analysis of metaphor in advertising communication in Chapter Four. Metaphor is an effective device to attract and hold the reader's attention and to express more with less wording. A short metaphor can express many weak implicatures, some of which the advertiser does not take responsibility for and the implicitness makes the reader feel that there is a high degree of understanding between her and the advertiser. The author proposes a flowchart to explain the reader's comprehension process of metaphor in advertising. The reader extends context and infer weaker implicatures, while at the same time, existing implicatures also change the context.
We review a large quantity of advertisements on main stream English magazines and analyze in Chapter Five a few metaphorical advertisements in detail using the theory, focusing on dynamic change of context and weakness of inferred implicatures. We come to the conclusion that Relevance Theory provides a good interpretation of metaphor in advertising communication. The author hopes that this thesis may help advertisers in understanding and composing advertisements to enhance their competitiveness in the international market and that it may enable readers to realize how advertisers convey something more than what they actually claim while appreciating some successful advertisements.
论文首先介绍与分析了对广告以及隐喻的几类研究方法。第三章详细介绍了关联理论。关联是个比较性的概念,关联性的大小与认知效果和认知努力两个因素有关。在等同条件下,认知效果越大,关联性越大;认知努力越小,关联性越大。作者提出一个更具体化的关联性与认知效果和认知努力的等式关系,虽然仍不能将关联性量化,但能较直接清晰地表示三者间的关系。关联理论的两条基本原则分别是:认知关联原则——人类的认知倾向于同最大程度的关联性相吻合;交际关联原则——每个话语都应设想为话语本身具备最佳的关联性。交际是一个涉及信息意图和交际意图的一个明示—推理过程,即对认知环境进行认知和互明的过程。作者就理解过程提出一个具体流程图,形象地表示听话人的理解是根据说话人的明示行为并运用推理认知能力来求得语境效果,从而选择符合最佳关联原则解释的推理过程。此流程图强调了动态的认知语境观,即听话人选择的语境不断地扩大并被所得的语境假设而改变。
平面广告以书面语篇为交际形式,与其它任何形式的言语交际不存在本质差异。隐喻是基于事物间的相似性而产生的,相似性也是一种关联性。因此关联理论以及作者在第三章中的提议对于广告交际中的隐喻同样具有解释力。第四章运用第三章的理论分析广告交际中的隐喻。隐喻是有效吸引注意、用更少语言表达更多含义的一种手段,它能巧妙传达只可意会不可言传的涵义,拉近与读者的距离,而不用对某些深层涵义负责。作者也提出了一个流程图来解释隐喻的理解过程,它是读者运用推理认知能力,不断扩大语境、得出弱隐含的过程,得出的隐含同时也改变了语境。
作者搜集和筛选了大量主流英语杂志的广告,在第五章中使用以上理论分析了多则经典广告隐喻的案例,着重分析认知语境的动态变化以及得出隐含的强弱变化,发现关联理论对广告交际中的隐喻现象可作很好的诠释。其余有代表性的隐喻广告则列于附录。本文希望能有助于中国的广告人更深入地理解英文广告,提高其在国际广告战中的竞争力。同时对广告的读者来说,如何揭示广告传达的意图则具有实践的价值。
Advertising has become an important international communication due to globalization of economy. Metaphor is frequently adopted in modern commercial advertising and turns out to be an effective and distinctive device. This thesis analyzes metaphors in advertising communication within the framework of Relevance Theory.
We start with a literature review on various approaches to advertising language and metaphor. Chapter Three explains Relevance Theory in detail. Relevance is non-demonstrative and is influenced by two factors—cognitive effects and processing effort. Other things being equal, the greater the cognitive effects, the greater the relevance; other things being equal, the smaller the processing effort, the greater the relevance. We propose an equation to clarify the relationship among the three notions. The two principles of relevance are: the Cognitive Principle that human cognition tends to be geared to the maximization of relevance; and the Communicative Principle that every utterance communicates a presumption of its own optimal relevance. Human language communication is regarded as an ostensive-inferential cognitive process, namely the process of cognition and mutual manifestness of the cognitive environments. We propose a flowchart to explain the addressee's comprehension procedure, i.e. the addressee produces the cognitive effects and chooses the explanation of the optimal relevance by using the ostensive information provided by the communicator's ostensive behaviors and the addressee's inferential cognitive ability. The flowchart reflects the dynamic view of context, as the addressee chooses and extends the context and at the same time, the context is changed by existing contextual assumptions.
In print advertising, the verbal text is employed as the main channel for communication which is similar to other forms of communications. Metaphor is formed based on the resemblance between things, which is also relevant. Therefore, Relevance Theory can also be applied to metaphor in advertising communication. Relevance Theory and the author's proposals in Chapter Three apply in the analysis of metaphor in advertising communication in Chapter Four. Metaphor is an effective device to attract and hold the reader's attention and to express more with less wording. A short metaphor can express many weak implicatures, some of which the advertiser does not take responsibility for and the implicitness makes the reader feel that there is a high degree of understanding between her and the advertiser. The author proposes a flowchart to explain the reader's comprehension process of metaphor in advertising. The reader extends context and infer weaker implicatures, while at the same time, existing implicatures also change the context.
We review a large quantity of advertisements on main stream English magazines and analyze in Chapter Five a few metaphorical advertisements in detail using the theory, focusing on dynamic change of context and weakness of inferred implicatures. We come to the conclusion that Relevance Theory provides a good interpretation of metaphor in advertising communication. The author hopes that this thesis may help advertisers in understanding and composing advertisements to enhance their competitiveness in the international market and that it may enable readers to realize how advertisers convey something more than what they actually claim while appreciating some successful advertisements.
引文
[1]Arens,William F.Contemporary Advertising.New York:McGraw-hill,2002.
[2]Bolen,W.H.Advertising,2nd ed.New York:John Wiley & Sons,1984.
[3]Cook,G.The Discourse of Advertising.London & New York:Routledge,2001.
[4]Drabble,Margaret.The Oxford Companion to English Literature.北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2005.
[5]Dyer,G.Advertising as Communication.London:Routledge,1988.
[6]Gannon,Martin J.,ed.Cultural metaphors:readings,research translations,and commentary.Calif.:Sage Publications,2001.
[7]Horn,L.and G.Ward,ed.The Handbook of Pragmatics.Oxford:Blackwell,2004.
[8]Lakoff,G.and M.Johnson.Metaphors We Live By.Chicago:University of Chicago Press,1980.
[9]Leech,G.English in Advertising:a Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain.London:Longman,1966.
[10]Sperber,D.and D.Wilson.Relevance:Communication & Cognition,2nd ed.Oxford:Blackwell,1995.
[11]Tanaka,K.Advertising Language.London:Routledge,1994.
[12]Vestergaard,T.and K.Schroder.The language of Advertising.Oxford:Blackwell,1985.
[13]Vivaneo,V.Implicatures and Explicatures iIn English And Spanish Commercial Messages:Pragmatic Level Versus Semantic Level.GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies,Volume 6(2)2006,31-47
[14]Ward,G.and L.Horn,ed.Handbook of Pragmatics.Oxford:Blackwell,2005.
[15]Wilson,D.Preface.in 何自然、冉永平主编.《语用与认知》.北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2001。
[16]孙晓丽.《广告英语与实例》.北京:中国广播电视出版社,1995。
[17]徐小娟编.《广告英语》.北京:首都经济贸易大学出版社,2004.
[18]李勇忠.“隐喻的语用阐释”,《山东外语教学》.2002(3):14-16
[19]束定芳.《隐喻学研究》.上海:上海外语教育出版社,2000。
[20]王少琳.“符号学与广告语言”,《外国语》.1994(6):19-23
[21]王燕希.《广告英语一本通》.北京:对外经济贸易大学出版社,2004。
[22]谭卫国.《实用新闻广告英语》.长沙:湖南出版社,1994。
[23]赵静编.《广告英语》.北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1992。
[24]陈家旭.《英汉隐喻认知对比研究》.上海:学林出版社,2007。
[25]陈新仁.“论广告用语中的语用预设”,《外国语》.1998(5):54-57
[26]黄国文.《语篇分析的理论与实践:广告语篇研究》,上海:上海外语教育出版社,2001。
[2]Bolen,W.H.Advertising,2nd ed.New York:John Wiley & Sons,1984.
[3]Cook,G.The Discourse of Advertising.London & New York:Routledge,2001.
[4]Drabble,Margaret.The Oxford Companion to English Literature.北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2005.
[5]Dyer,G.Advertising as Communication.London:Routledge,1988.
[6]Gannon,Martin J.,ed.Cultural metaphors:readings,research translations,and commentary.Calif.:Sage Publications,2001.
[7]Horn,L.and G.Ward,ed.The Handbook of Pragmatics.Oxford:Blackwell,2004.
[8]Lakoff,G.and M.Johnson.Metaphors We Live By.Chicago:University of Chicago Press,1980.
[9]Leech,G.English in Advertising:a Linguistic Study of Advertising in Great Britain.London:Longman,1966.
[10]Sperber,D.and D.Wilson.Relevance:Communication & Cognition,2nd ed.Oxford:Blackwell,1995.
[11]Tanaka,K.Advertising Language.London:Routledge,1994.
[12]Vestergaard,T.and K.Schroder.The language of Advertising.Oxford:Blackwell,1985.
[13]Vivaneo,V.Implicatures and Explicatures iIn English And Spanish Commercial Messages:Pragmatic Level Versus Semantic Level.GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies,Volume 6(2)2006,31-47
[14]Ward,G.and L.Horn,ed.Handbook of Pragmatics.Oxford:Blackwell,2005.
[15]Wilson,D.Preface.in 何自然、冉永平主编.《语用与认知》.北京:外语教学与研究出版社,2001。
[16]孙晓丽.《广告英语与实例》.北京:中国广播电视出版社,1995。
[17]徐小娟编.《广告英语》.北京:首都经济贸易大学出版社,2004.
[18]李勇忠.“隐喻的语用阐释”,《山东外语教学》.2002(3):14-16
[19]束定芳.《隐喻学研究》.上海:上海外语教育出版社,2000。
[20]王少琳.“符号学与广告语言”,《外国语》.1994(6):19-23
[21]王燕希.《广告英语一本通》.北京:对外经济贸易大学出版社,2004。
[22]谭卫国.《实用新闻广告英语》.长沙:湖南出版社,1994。
[23]赵静编.《广告英语》.北京:外语教学与研究出版社,1992。
[24]陈家旭.《英汉隐喻认知对比研究》.上海:学林出版社,2007。
[25]陈新仁.“论广告用语中的语用预设”,《外国语》.1998(5):54-57
[26]黄国文.《语篇分析的理论与实践:广告语篇研究》,上海:上海外语教育出版社,2001。