Information AboutMetaphor |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT METAPHOR | |
| metaphors | |
| figures of speech | |
| rhetorical techniques | |
| literary devices playing with meaning | |
| word play | |
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In literary analysis, a metaphor (from the , especially in Poetry , where with few words, emotions and associations from one context are associated with objects and entities in a different context. Within rhetorical theory metaphor is generally considered to be a direct equation of terms that is more forceful and assertive than an Analogy , although the two types of tropes are highly similar and often confused. One distinguishing characteristic is that the assertiveness of a metaphor calls into question the underlying Category structure, whereas in a rhetorical analogy the comparative differences between the categories remain salient and acknowledged. Similarly, metaphors can be distinguished from other closely related rhetorical concepts such as Metonymy , Synecdoche , Simile , Allegory and Parable . PARTS OF A METAPHOR Metaphor, according to I. A. Richards in ''The Philosophy of Rhetoric'' (1936), consists of two parts: the tenor and '''vehicle'''. The tenor is the subject to which attributes are ascribed. The vehicle is the subject from which the attributes are borrowed. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; This well known quotation is a good example of a metaphor. In this example, "the world" is compared to a stage, the aim being to describe the world by taking well-known attributes from the stage. In this case, the world is the tenor and the stage is the vehicle. "Men and women" are a secondary tenor and "players" is the vehicle for this secondary tenor. The metaphor is sometimes further analysed in terms of the ground and the '''tension'''. The ground consists of the similarities between the tenor and the vehicle. The tension of the metaphor consists of the dissimilarities between the tenor and the vehicle. In the above example, the ground begins to be elucidated from the third line: "They all have their exits and entrances". In the play, Shakespeare continues this metaphor for another twenty lines beyond what is shown here - making it a good example of an ''extended metaphor''. The corresponding terms to 'tenor' and 'vehicle' in George Lakoff 's terminology are target and '''source'''. In this nomenclature, metaphors are named using the convention "target '''IS''' source", with the word "is" always capitalized; in this notation, the metaphor discussed above would state that "humankind IS theater". TYPES OF METAPHOR The following are the more commonly identified types of metaphor:
Other types of metaphor have been identified as well, though the nomenclatures are not as universally accepted:
An example: "Golden baked skin", comparing bakery goods to skin or "green blades of nausea", comparing green grass to the pallor of a nauseastic person or "leafy golden sunset" comparing the sunset to a tree in the fall. The category of metaphor can be further considered to contain the following specialized subsets:
ETYMOLOGY Originally, ''metaphor'' was a Greek word meaning "transfer". The Greek Etymology is from ''meta'', implying "a change" and ''pherein'' meaning "to bear, or carry". In modern Greek, the word ''metaphor'' also means ''transport'' or ''transfer''. METAPHOR AND SIMILE Metaphor and Simile are two of the best known tropes and are often mentioned together as examples of rhetorical figures. Metaphor and simile are both terms that describe a comparison: the only difference between a metaphor and a simile is that a simile makes the comparison explicit by using "like" or "as." The Colombia Encyclopedia, 6th edition, explains the difference as: : ''a simile states that A is like B, a metaphor states that A is B or substitutes B for A.'' According to this definition, then, "You are my sunshine" is a metaphor whereas "Your eyes are like the sun" is a simile. However, some describe similes as simply a specific type of metaphor (see Joseph Kelly's ''The Seagull Reader'' (2005), pages 377-379). Most dictionary definitions of both metaphor and simile support the classification of similes as a type of metaphor, and historically it appears the two terms were used essentially as synonyms. Despite the similarity of the two figures, and the fact that they have historically been used as synonyms, it is the distinction between them which is normally focused upon when the terms are introduced to students. Ironically, "not knowing the difference between a simile and a metaphor" is sometimes used as a euphemism for knowing little about rhetoric or literature. Of course, someone truly versed in rhetoric understands that there is very little difference between metaphor and simile, and that the distinction is trivial compared to, for example, the difference between Metonymy And Metaphor . Nonetheless, many lists of literary terms define metaphor as "a comparison not using like or as", showing the emphasis often put on teaching this distinction. Usually, similes and metaphors could easily be interchanged. For example remove the word 'like' from ) does not translate easily from simile to metaphor. METAPHORS IN LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE Metaphor is present in written Language back to the earliest surviving writings. From the Epic Of Gilgamesh (one of the oldest Sumerian texts): My friend, the swift mule, fleet wild ass of the mountain, panther of the wilderness, after we joined together and went up into the mountain, fought the Bull of Heaven and killed it, and overwhelmed Humbaba, who lived in the Cedar Forest, now what is this sleep that has seized you? In this example, the friend is compared to a Mule , a wild Ass , and a Panther to indicate that the speaker sees traits from these animals in his friend. The Greek plays of Sophocles , Aeschylus , and Euripides , among others, were almost invariably allegorical, showing the tragedy of the protagonists, either to caution the audience metaphorically about temptation, or to lambast famous individuals of the day by inferring similarities with the caricatures in the play. Even when they are not intentional, parallels can be drawn between most writing or language and other topics. In this way it can be seen that any Theme in literature is a metaphor, using the story to convey information about human perception of the theme in question. METAPHORS IN HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS In historical Onomasiology or, more generally, in Historical Linguistics , metaphor is defined as semantic change based on similarity, i.e. a similarity in form or function between the original concept named by a word and the target concept named by this wordCf. Grzega, Joachim (2004), ''Bezeichnungswandel: Wie, Warum, Wozu? Ein Beitrag zur englischen und allgemeinen Onomasiologie'', Heidelberg: Winter, and Blank, Andreas (1998), ''Prinzipien des lexikalischen Bedeutungswandels am Beispiel der romanischen Sprachen'', Tübingen: Niemeyer.. Example: ''mouse'' 'small, gray rodent' > 'small, gray, mouse-shaped computer device'. SEE ALSO
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