Yimeng Mao, Li Zeng

Yimeng Mao

30 December, 2024

Cognitive linguistics, Conceptual metaphor, Han Kang, “The Vegetarian”.

Han Kang used a large number of conceptual metaphors in her representative work "The Vegetarian", not only showcasing Yeong-hye's inner world, but also criticizing social structural violence and calling for individual awakening and pursuit of freedom. Starting from the three types of conceptual metaphors, this article analyzes how source domains such as "knives and swords", "bras", and "plants" are mapped to the target domain based on empirical foundations. From the perspective of conceptual metaphor, analyzing “The Vegetarian” can reveal the multiple symbolic meanings behind the vegetarian behavior and other plots in the work, deepen the understanding of themes such as individual difficulties, social pressure, and self-identity, enrich the interpretation perspective of the work, promote interdisciplinary research in literature and cognitive linguistics, and provide readers with a more comprehensive and in-depth literary experience.

© 2024, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license