Lecture 11 Metaphor

Lecture10MetaphorACognitiveApproachOutline1.traditionalapproach2.cognitiveapproach3.conceptualmetaphor4.cognitivefunctionofmetaphor5.thebasisofmetaphor1.TraditionalapproachAristotle:Metaphorconsistsingivingthethinganamethatbelongstosomethingelse;thetransferencebeingeitherfromgenustospecies,orfromspeciestogenus,orfromspeciestospecies,oronthegroundofanalogy.1.TraditionalapproachE.g.:Speciestogenus:IndeedtenthousandnoblethingsOdysseusdid.Analogy:Oldageistolifeaseveningistoday.1.TraditionalapproachTheimportantideasinhisdefinition:First,metaphorisamatterofwords,becausemetaphoricaltransfertakesplaceatthelevelofwords,notsentences.1.TraditionalapproachSecond,metaphorisviewedasdeviantfromliteralusagebecauseitinvolvesthetransferofanametosomeobjecttowhichthatnamedoesnotproperlybelong.1.TraditionalapproachDictionbecomesdistinguishedandnon-prosaicbytheuseofunfamiliarterms,i.e.,strangewords,metaphors,lengthenedforms,andeverythingthatdeviatesfromordinarymodelsofspeech.(Aristotle:Poetics)1.TraditionalapproachAthirdcharacteristicofmetaphorforAristotleisthatmetaphorisbasedonsimilaritiesbetweentwothings.1.Traditionalapproach“Thegreatestthingbyfaristobeamasterofmetaphor.Itistheonethingthatcannotbelearnedfromothers;anditisalsoasignofgenius,sinceagoodmetaphorimpliesanintuitiveperceptionofthesimilarityindissimilars.”(ibid)Metaphorsareimpliedanalogiesorellipticalsimiles.CharacteristicsFirst,metaphorisapropertyofwords,itisalinguisticphenomenon.Themetaphoricaluseoflionisacharacteristicofalinguisticexpression(thatofthewordlion).CharacteristicsSecond,metaphorisusedforsomeartisticandrhetoricalpurpose,suchaswhenShakespearewrites“alltheworld’sastage”.CharacteristicsThird,metaphorisbasedonaresemblancebetweenthetwoentitiesthatarecomparedandidentified.Achillesmustsharesomefeatureswithlionsinorderforustobeabletousethewordlionasametaphor.CharacteristicsFourth,metaphorisaconsciousanddeliberateuseofwords.Onemusthaveaspecialtalenttobeabletodoitanddoitwell.Onlygreatpoetsoreloquentspeakers,suchas,Shakespearecanbeitsmasters.CharacteristicsFifth,itisalsocommonlyheldthatmetaphorisafigureofspeechthatwecandowithout;weuseitforspecialeffects,anditisnotaninevitablepartofeverydayhumancommunication,letaloneeverydayhumanthoughtandreasoning.2.CognitiveapproachMetaphorsWeLiveBy.GeorgeLakoffandMarkJohnson,1980.Women,Fire,andDangerousThings.GeorgeLakoff,1987.2.CognitiveapproachFirst,metaphorisapropertyofconcepts,andnotofwords.Second,thefunctionofmetaphoristobetterunderstandcertainconcepts,andnotjustsomeartisticorestheticpurpose.Third,metaphorisoftennotbasedonsimilarity.2.CognitiveapproachFourth,metaphorisusedeffortlesslyineverydaylifebyordinarypeople,notjustbyspecialtalentedpeople.Fifth,metaphor,farfrombeingasuperfluousthoughpleasinglinguisticornament,isaninevitableprocessofhumanthoughtandreasoning.3.ConceptualmetaphorInthecognitivelinguisticview,metaphorisdefinedasunderstandingoneconceptualdomainintermsofanotherconceptualdomain.Aconceptualdomainisanycoherentorganizationofexperience.3.ConceptualmetaphorConceptualmetaphorVsmetaphoricallinguisticexpressionsThelatterarewordsorotherlinguisticexpressionsthatcomefromthelanguageorterminologyofthemoreconcreteconceptualdomain.NonlinguisticrealizationsMetaphorsareprimarilyconceptual,sotheymustmanifestthemselvesinotherthanlinguisticways.i.e.,iftheconceptualsystemthatgovernshowweexperiencetheworld,howwethink,andhowweactispartlymetaphorical,thentheconceptualmetaphorsmustberealizednotonlyinlanguagebutalsoinmanyotherareasofhumanexperience.Nonlinguisticrealizations1.moviesandacting2.cartoon,drawings,sculptures,andbuildings.Christianchurchesarebuiltinsuchawaythattheypointtowardthesky,theassumedplacewhereGodlives,whichseemstobebasedonthemetaphorGODISUP.Nonlinguisticrealizations3.advertisements4.symbols5.myths6.dreaminterpretation7.interpretationofhistory8.politicsandforeignpolicy9.morality10.socialinstitutionsandpractices11.literature3.ConceptualmetaphorE.g.:Yourclaimsareindefensible.Heattackedeveryweakpointinmyargument.Hiscriticismswererightontarget.Idemolishedhisargument.I’veneverwonanargumentwithhim.Heshotdownallofmyargument.3.ConceptualmetaphorAlltheexpressionsabovethathavetodowithargumentandthatcomefromthedomainofwararelinguisticmetaphoricalexpressions,whereasthecorrespondingconceptualmetaphorthattheymakemanifestisARGUMENTISWAR.3.ConceptualmetaphorFormula:AisBThetwodomainsthatparticipateinconceptualmetaphorhavespecialnames.Theconceptualdomainfromwhichwedrawmetaphoricalexpressionstounderstandanotherconceptualdomainiscalledsourcedomain,whiletheconceptualdomainthatisunderstoodthiswayisthetargetdomain.ConcreteVsAbstractConceptualmetaphorstypicallyemployamoreabstractconceptastargetandamoreconcreteorphysicalconceptastheirsource.UnidirectionalityOurexprerienceswiththephysicalworldserveasanaturalandlogicalfoundationforthecomprehensionofmoreabstractdomains.Thesourceandtargetdomainsarenotreversible.Theprincipleofunidirectionality:themetaphoricalprocesstypicallygoesfrom