3.3.1 Construal theory and construal of image-G
Structuralistic linguistics believes that language is a true-to-life reflection of the objective world.However,the research on the subjectivity of human beings as cognitive subjects has not been deeply conducted yet in its research field(Newman,2001).With the revival of humanism,increasing attention has been paid to human beings as cognitive subjects.Cognitive linguistics holds that language is not just a mirror image of the objective world.It is impossible for human beings to understand the objective world without the involvement and effect of their subjective factors,namely,a“reality-cognition-language”process.In other words,the conceptualization of the objective world itself is construed by human being's subjective cognitive processing.Thus construal theory was proposed by Langacker(1987).He defined construal as a cognitive ability that human being choose different perspectives on the same scene in different scope with different salient point in order to achieve the comprehension of certain scene.This process is to some extent potentially of highly subjective.Conceptualization and categorization,as two important notions in cognitive linguistic,provide a cognitive basis and explanations for construal of image-G which will be illustrated as following.
One fundamental viewpoint of cognitive linguistics is that human have no access to a reality independent of human conceptual structure.A feature of linguistic scene is a general commitment to cognitive realism,in other words,to the study that language is a conceptual or cognitive phenomenon.To be sure,on the premise of that language is a conceptual phenomenon,the every phase of language usage will be simplified in presentation or analysis,ultimately,to matters of mental processing.In particular,meaning will be constructed in terms of mental processing.As a matter of fact,Langacker(1996)equated the construal of linguistic items with conceptualization.Conceptualization is almost regarded as identical to cognitive processing and mental experience in the sense that it requires,which is closely related with human mental experience.Thus linguistic meanings are a function of both the conceptual content evoked in human mind and the construal imposed on that content.Meaning construction provides evidence that encyclopedic knowledge of human being's conceptual system is reflected in construal process,including inferencing strategies concerning various aspects of conceptual system,framework and system.The dynamic characteristics of meaning construction have been most profoundly analyzed by Fauconnier(2005).He demonstrated the functional flow of dynamic construction which involves conceptual interrelatedness between individual mental spaces and conceptual groupings of information.It is accumulated throughout the conceptual process of semantic construction.In sum,perception and conception can be considered as parallel.
Thus,it could be concluded that image-G is not objectively given,but subjectively constructed.Even for expressions pertaining to object reality in literary works,they are realized by describing the cognitive routines that constitute a translator's construal of it.The subject matter of semantic analysis of image-G is human conceptualization.The structures of concern are those that translators impose on their mental experience through active cognitive processing.According to this view,semantic meaning of image-G is actually construed at the conceptual level:Meaning construction of image-G is equated with human beings'conceptualization and construal,a dynamic process whereby linguistic units serve as a prompts for a cue of conceptual functioning and the gathering of semantic information in literary discourse.It is in agreement with the opinion that the construal of image-G is a process instead of a separated concept that can be assembled by language.(https://www.daowen.com)
Categorization is the other essential conception in the frame of cognitive semantics,which has attracted extensive attention.Preceded from its very nature,it makes reference to human being's recognition capability of categorizing entities as members that belong to a particular classification.The theoretical premises of categorization stems from the cognitive commitment as conceptual processes do.Lakoff(1987)explored some of the findings made by Rosch(1987)for a theory of conceptual categorization as presented in linguistic studies.Two significant principles that emerged from his study are the theories of conceptual integration and metaphorical concept,both of which have highly recapitulative and constructional force for typicality effects of human being's categorization.The prototypes of cognitive categorization are not unalterable,yet may vary as cognitive environment or mental space diverges with individuals.However,it is also applicable for the conceptualization of categorization.In addition,for human being's categorization of cognitive semantics,quite a few illustrative frameworks developed for various categories of abstract operation and concrete organizations appear to be available.For Herskovits(1986:218),it is to be observed that“human being's interdynamic factor with the external world is one predominant influence of the construction of categorization.The external world provides structure,which is also partly determined the construction of categorization”.
One major viewpoint adopted by cognitive linguistics is that translation is a function of generalized cognition and the conceptual ability to categorize is central to translators'cognition.It is undeniable that the words and phrases in literary works are what authors use to refer to entities rest upon categorization.However,they are not the only research object of categorization in literary translation.Translators'mental and conceptual activities are also to be involved in.The point to emphasize here is that we are not dealing with scientific categories,but with the mental process of categorization that takes place in translators'mind on the basis of perceptual features.The present research will probe into translators'mental recognition in their construal of image-G by making an analysis of their categorization of image-G.It will be conducted by investigating their cognitive ability of perceiving Gestalt qualities between imagery and grouping them together in literary translation.Human being's categorization of image-G both relies upon and gives rise to their knowledge representation.It is central to the construal of image-G representation,because it accounts,in part,for the organization of imagery within the network of translators'encyclopedic knowledge.Categorization is of fundamental importance for the analysis of both translators'psychological cognition of image-G and cognitive semantics of image-G,since both factors require categorization in order to account for knowledge representation and construed semantics.