Metaphorical meanings of color symbols in literature

• Published in: CHINESE SEMIOTIC STUDIES
• Main Authors: Zhao, Qian; Abdullah, Amalia Qistina Castaneda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: DE GRUYTER MOUTON 2024
• Subjects: Arts & Humanities - Other Topics
• Online Access: https://www-webofscience-com.uitm.idm.oclc.org/wos/woscc/full-recordWOS:001365282000002

In literature, color words serve as important carriers for writers to convey their emotions. In this paper, color words in literary works written by over 30 famous writers from different countries and regions in world literature are selected as the research object. According to the frequency of their use in the selected literary works, our analysis divides the different color symbols into two types: high-frequency and low-frequency. Among the various color symbols, red, blue, white, black, and yellow are classified as high-frequency color symbols. Purple, gray, green, and brown belong to low-frequency color symbols. Comparatively speaking, the metaphorical meanings of high-frequency color symbols are richer and more diverse, while the symbolic meanings of low-frequency color symbols are relatively simple. Through the analysis of the color symbols in the literary works, we find that there is a benign interaction between color symbols and literary works. On the one hand, writers convey their pursuit of art and aesthetics through color symbols. Color symbols become a perfect medium for them to express ideas, show themes, and construct characters. On the other hand, literary works also expand and enrich the metaphorical meaning of color symbols.