Research Background of Fuzzy Beauty

陈瑞平

The previous theories provide us basic theoretical backgrounds for the linguistic fuzziness concerning the objectivity and rationality on the subject. Based on the theories, fuzzy beauty can be observed and analyzed. Since everything is realized in human mind and connected with human knowledge, life experiences, cultural backgrounds etc., fuzzy beauty might be researched in the cognitive perspective. As a matter of fact, Gestalt theory is based on the cognitive theory. Embodied philosophy formed the basis of cognitive linguistics, which is an interpretative science and emphasizes the meaning of the language, leading us to access to fuzzy beauty of language. Besides, the above-mentioned theories have a lot in common. They all connected with the cognitive framework, for instance, the concept horizon of expectation can be interpret from the perspective of cognitive framework, and Gestalt closure seems equivalent to the process of activating the cognitive framework. At a further level, the causes of fuzzy beauty might be probed into default value in cognitive framework. Then we can evaluate aesthetic values caused by default value. The thesis is arranged to probe into the origin of fuzzy beauty from the perspective of default value and analyze fuzzy beauty caused by default value at different levels.

1. Introduction 

It seems that fuzziness and precision are paradoxical phenomena in practical language, and people tend to worship precision and avoid fuzziness, assuming that only by means of precise wordings can the beauty of language be achieved. Fuzziness in aesthetics refers to artistic fuzziness in language, i.e. the hazy and far-reaching denotation of words instead of unclearness or indistinctness of language. It is confirmed by English scholar I.A.Richards（1999） that fuzziness and precision are like two sides of a coin in language, which suggests that fuzziness is the attribute of natural languages.

Fuzzy beauty has three characteristics, i.e. indeterminacy, integrity and permeability. Fuzzy beauty enlarges the artistic range and leaves unlimited space for readers to ramble. It is more and more significant to study the value and the effect of fuzzy beauty in literary appreciating.

With the development of fuzzy linguistics, more and more researches have been conducted on the fuzziness of language. At a certain level, studies are mainly concerned with applied mathematics and computer science. The third level is confined to the fields of semantics, categorization, pragmatics, etc.

However, most of contemporary researches are confined to discussions of the origins of fuzziness, the relationship between precision and fuzziness, etc within the scope of semantics; a few others discuss the communicative functions of fuzzy language from the perspective of pragmatics. Few efforts have been made to explore the relationship between fuzziness and aesthetic functions of language from a cognitive perspective.

In short, most comments and studies lack fundamental study on the causes of fuzziness or aesthetic fuzzy beauty in this field. Despite some relevant research, it is far from enough to unfold the universal law in this regard.

2. Research Objective

The thesis aims to probe into the phenomena of linguistic fuzziness from the cognitive perspective, focusing on analyzing the way how fuzzy beauty is generated at the semantic, cultural, semantic roles, syntactic or other levels in the form of default value.

3. Research Significance

Hopefully, some enlightenment will be gained in appreciating and conveying fuzzy beauty in the literary description via reining literary writing skillfully. The paper can offer guidance in controlling default value in literary writing to manifest fuzzy beauty without causing ambiguity or obscurity.

Crystal considered fuzzy as “a term derived from mathematics and used by some linguists to refer to the indeterminacy involved in the analysis of a linguistic unit or pattern. Here is the description of vagueness (fuzziness) by Kempson:

a. Referential vagueness, where the meaning of a lexical item is in principle clear enough, but it may be hard to decide whether or not the item can be applied to certain objects;

b. Indeterminacy of meaning, where the meaning of an item itself seems indeterminate;

c. Lack of specification in the meaning of an item, where the meaning is clear but is only generally specified;

d. Disjunction in the specification of an items meaning, where the meaning involves an either-or statement with different interpretation possibilities .

From the above statements, we can see that fuzziness is one of the most basic linguistic characteristics with many functions in language expression. It is fuzzy meaning that helps many expressions to achieve their effects. Fuzziness applied in the thesis is defined in a rather broader sense, which possesses four major characteristics:

a. High generalization: information is transferred in a condensed way.

b. Indeterminacy: the meaning is clear but is only generally specified;

c. Implicitness：the meaning is not conveyed explicitly;

d. Openness: It is the indeterminacy of fuzziness that offers the recipient an opportunity to give his understanding of fuzzy wordings with the aid of imagination and association.

Bibliography

[1] Adorno, T.W. Aesthetic Theory[M].  London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982.

[2] Crystal, David. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 1991.

[3] Channel, Joannaa. Vague Language[M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education press, 2000.