Download pdf
Imaginary World, Real Human-beings: A Study on the Conceptual Metaphors in Terry Pratchett’s The Sea and Little Fishes
- 1 Shanghai Jiao Tong University
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
In the fantastical “Discworld” created by Terry Pratchett, conceptual metaphors played a vital role on mirroring the human nature and it mainly includes three categories: structural metaphor, orientational metaphor and ontological metaphor. “The Sea and Little Fishes” have three primary characters: Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Letice.Through detailed analysis of the characters' actions, dialogues, and psychological activities, the essay reveals how Pratchett utilizes conceptual metaphors to map the complexities of human nature through this story in each category. Besides, by analyzing the source and target domains of the metaphors in the story, the essay demonstrates how Pratchett creates a rich and nuanced portrayal of human nature and highlights the significance of conceptual metaphor theory in understanding literary works. In summary, the essay demonstrates the power of conceptual metaphors in shaping our understanding of the world and human nature through analyzing the large quantity of conceptual metaphors in the short story and thus pointed out the final goal of the author to build this imaginary world was to uncover the complicated human nature of true human-beings
Keywords
imaginary world, conceptual metaphor, Terry Pratchett
[1]. Terry P.(1998) The Sea and Little Fishes. Retrieved from https://www.angelfire.com/weird2/athenia/stories/pterry/sea.htm
[2]. Peter S.(2002) Cognitive Poetics: an introduction, Routledge.
[3]. Tom M.(1992) The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press.
[4]. George L., Mark J.(2003) Metaphors We Live by. The university of Chicago press.
[5]. Terry P.(2003)The Night Watch, HarperTorch.
[6]. “Pratchett wins first major award”. BBC News. 12 July 2002. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2124520.stm
Cite this article
Wang,X. (2025). Imaginary World, Real Human-beings: A Study on the Conceptual Metaphors in Terry Pratchett’s The Sea and Little Fishes. Communications in Humanities Research,62,79-83.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Literature, Language, and Culture Development
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).