Narrative Semantics of Appearance Description

Abstract

The narrative semantics of the description of appearance are very complex and delicate. This chapter discusses the issue from the perspectives of function, rhetoric, influence, and composition. First, the main purpose of providing information on the appearance and outlook of the characters is to suggest their spiritual outlook. In addition to the eyes as the “window of the soul”, other parts of the body can also reflect the inner world of the characters. In theory, the description of appearance should incorporate both “spirit” and “form”, but in the available corpus of documents, “form” is weak while “spirit” is strong. This is to say, the information related to “form” is often blurred, while the information related to “spirit” is clearly explained. Second, metaphor is often used in the description of appearance. Animal names take on the modifying function of adjectives because of the belief of early people in the migration of souls. From a literary point of view, this belief is of great significance, because it not only reveals the personality of the characters, but also ensures perceptual freshness, which is the basic function of the literature. The Han nationality people like to use plant metaphor because they have been engaged in farming for a long time, and they also have a special love for jade among minerals. The reason for the prominence of jade metaphors lies in the ancient people’s infinite yearning for the virtue or spirit of jade. Third, the interdependence between the theory of appearance and literary tradition has led to a series of conventions that create highly culture-specific description of appearance. If we do not understand the involvement of specific body parts and the relevant conventions in the cultural traditions of all ethnic groups in the world, it is difficult to have a thorough understanding of the narrative semantics of appearance description. Finally, the rules of the formation of differences can be divided into three categories: “increase and decrease”, “change”, and “confusion”. The “enlargement” that takes place in the representation of “great men” is relative to the humble status of the common people who look up at them, while the “demonization” of the appearance of the alien comes from the discriminatory imagination that “the appearance of the alien must be different”. The valorization of the difference is not unchangeable, and the concepts of “the sage’s appearance is uncommon” and “uncommon people are endowed with special powers” have encountered serious challenges in recent narrative.