Metonymy in Li Bai's Poetry
A Cognitive and Cultural Analysis of a Chinese Classic
Will be published approx. on 12. November 2026
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-350-55796-3 (ISBN)
Description
This book explores metonymic patterns in Li Bai's poetry from a cognitive poetic perspective and offers new insights into the use of metonymies in poetry more widely. Focusing more specifically on Annotations to the Annals of the Complete Collection of Li Bai compiled by A Qi, it sheds light on the poetic style of one of the most celebrated poets of China's Tang Dynasty (610-907 AD).
Adopting corpus-based and introspection methods, this book builds a metonymy identification procedure that takes into account the social and cultural context and the stylistic characteristics of Tang poetry, classifies the metonymies into different categories, and examines their roles and functions. The author reveals how Li Bai's metonymies reflect the poet's evolution as his style shifts from romanticism to realism. She also reflects on how they act as a lens through which readers can learn about hierarchical structures, wine, dress and agriculture in the Tang Dynasty.
Approaching Li Bai's poetry from a fresh angle, this volume contributes to the study of classical Chinese literature and offers implications for the appreciation, translation and teaching of Li Bai's poetry.
Adopting corpus-based and introspection methods, this book builds a metonymy identification procedure that takes into account the social and cultural context and the stylistic characteristics of Tang poetry, classifies the metonymies into different categories, and examines their roles and functions. The author reveals how Li Bai's metonymies reflect the poet's evolution as his style shifts from romanticism to realism. She also reflects on how they act as a lens through which readers can learn about hierarchical structures, wine, dress and agriculture in the Tang Dynasty.
Approaching Li Bai's poetry from a fresh angle, this volume contributes to the study of classical Chinese literature and offers implications for the appreciation, translation and teaching of Li Bai's poetry.
Reviews / Votes
The monograph represents a Cultural Cognitive Linguistic endeavor into the field of Chinese literary research, exploring how an analysis informed by Cognitive Linguistics can effectively tease out culturally significant patterns in the works of Li Bai, one of the most eminent poets in Mid-Imperial China. The work offers deep insight into the conceptual patterns that underlie Li Bai's poetic verses that not only reflect, but further shape the Chinese cultural thinking for generations. -- Wei-lun Lu, Department of Chinese Studies, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University This is an impressive piece of scholarship-a rigorous, corpus-based cognitive poetic analysis that illuminates how metonymy shapes Li Bai's imagery, style, and cultural resonance. It makes a compelling case for metonymy's centrality in classical Chinese poetry and offers valuable insights for linguists, literary scholars, and translators alike. -- Prof. Heng LI This book provides a pioneering cognitive-poetic analysis of metonymy in Li Bai's poetry. Combining rigorous scholarship with rich textual insight, it offers an important contribution to both cognitive linguistics and the study of classical Chinese literature. -- Han Luo, Associate Professor of Chinese, Lafayette College, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
10 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
503 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-55796-3 (9781350557963)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Wei Li is an English Language Instructor in the College of International Studies at Southwest University (SWU), China.
Content
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Foundations
3. Introduction to Li Bai's Poetry
4. Metonymic Patterns in Li Bai's Poetry
5. Social and Cultural Cognition Underlying Metonymic Patterns in Li Bai's Poetry
6. Functions of Metonymy in Li Bai's Poetry
7. Conclusion
References
Index
2. Theoretical Foundations
3. Introduction to Li Bai's Poetry
4. Metonymic Patterns in Li Bai's Poetry
5. Social and Cultural Cognition Underlying Metonymic Patterns in Li Bai's Poetry
6. Functions of Metonymy in Li Bai's Poetry
7. Conclusion
References
Index