Studying language reveals one aspect of culture which is organized systematically. The relationship between categories, cognition, language, culture, and truth can be analytically examined in Metaphors We Live By. George Lakoff and Mark Johnson argue that dictionary definitions do not adequately describe concepts, especially ambiguous concepts. Rather, we use concepts from a source domain (which are more basic and empirically real) to make sense of concepts within the target domain (which are less tangible and clearly defined ex: emotions, time, and morality). An experiential basis for both domains links the two together. Experiential bases include our bodies, our interaction with the physical environment, and interactions with other people and institutions.
Employing this method requires the use of metaphors. Lakoff and Johnson make the powerful claim that, “our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature… the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one thing in terms of another” (p. 3-5). Language gives us evidence of the conceptual system within a culture. Our language limits our understanding of everyday experiences for we rely on metaphors to create understanding of our messages; there are very few things we are able to explain on a daily basis without speaking about something in terms of another.
Lakoff and Johnson classify metaphors into three groups: structural, orientational and ontological. When one concept is metaphorically structured in terms of another it is classified as a structural metaphor. Structural metaphors require certain aspects of a concept to be highlighted and others to be shaded. Orientational metaphors organize an entir...
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...e category is understood for our purposes in a given context”(p. 163-63). Again, for Lakoff and Johnson there is no such thing as truth independent of human understanding.
With this considered, the metaphors discussed thus far are “true” in so far as language enables us to give meaning and significance to different concepts through coherence. In order for a conceptual metaphor to be true it must be shared beyond the individual level, but is rarely, if ever, shared at a universal level. There is no truth that always exists for everyone. Truth is culturally constructed and is always relative to the conceptual system within the culture.
Works Cited
Davis, Watson. "Battling a Plague." The Science News-Letter 32 (1937): 234-237.
Lakoff, George and Mark Johnson. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.
Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, Kourtney K. and Scott Disick broke up due to finding out that their relationship wasn't working.This shows that being in love is difficult and has a downside at times.The authors of "Love's Vocabulary", "My Shakespeare",and Romeo and Juliet use metaphors,allusions and again metaphors to illustrate how confusing love is. In "Love's Vocabulary" Diane Ackerman uses metaphors to describe how love can be a struggle when you're in a relationship.In line 1 she says "love is the great intagible" which sums up the idea
Figurative language includes metaphors, similes and
“Metaphor.” Dictionary of World Literature: Criticism - Forms - Technique. Ed. Joseph T. Shipley. New York: Philosophical Library, 1943. 377-8.
In the book, the author has used several metaphors to make the book to be more interesting for the readers of the book. Additionally, the author of the book has used metaphors to bring about some of the meanings in the story. This has made it easy for the readers to be able to understand what they are reading. In conjunction to this, the author has used the metaphors to bring out the character traits of some characters like Janie and Joe in the book. Therefore, it is through metaphors that the book has been very interesting and easy to understand.
For example, I work in a juvenile prison. Prison is an interesting cultural context to investigate from its various perspectives. Many metaphors may be made about the same system depending on a person's immediate cultural group, or what Eco better terme d as humans' "local cultural organizations" (Cunningham, "MOM" handout). The sign of school and its object, the prison school program, has at least three distinguishable interpretants in the facility in which I work. These interpretants can be viewed as metaphors and are different depending on whose point of view and "local cultural organization" one is investigating.
... A metaphor, used as a communication skill, is best described in a political way. Think of Reagan’s Voodoo economics, or Bill Clinton building a bridge to the 21st century. Politicians can easily scam an ignorant voter, should one not understand a metaphor. For example: Clinton refers to building a bridge, but does not tell us with which tools he intends to build it with. This particular concept is valid alone for the above reason. Whether you are talking to a teacher or watching television, metaphors need to understand.
In the field of Modern Languages and Linguistics, words are of great importance. A language’s phonology (study of how sounds are organized and used), morphology (study of the form and structure of words), syntax (study of the rules that govern sentence structure), semantics (study of meaning of words, sentences, and expressions), pragmatics (study of aspects of meaning and language use and context), and phonetics (study of human speech sounds) all play an important part in everyday life. These have a major impact in understanding the intent of what is spoken or heard. Due to the importance of communication, literary elements such as metaphors (which are defined as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea that is used in place of another to suggest a likeness between them), takes on greater cultural significance. This is especially true of the Spanish language.
Metaphors are powerful tools often used by authors to communicate a deeper meaning. Metaphors also tend to make the piece more thought provoking, and thus more interesting and intriguing. Laura Esquivel does a marvelous job of using food as a metaphor for unexpressed emotions in the novel Like Water for Chocolate. She takes the aching soul of a young girl and turns it into a cookbook of feelings and emotions cleverly disguised with food.
In the short story “The Metaphor”, author Budge Wilson depicted a story about a girl named Charlotte discovering her own life through her teenage years. Throughout the duration of the story, Charlotte had moved from a shadow of her mother to becoming the unique and distinct herself today. It was evident that Charlotte was aware of her own thoughts and values for the first time when she wrote a metaphor describing Miss Hancock; an individual which no one around her loved.
Jimmy S.Baca use of metaphors, similes, imagery, diction, tone and mood are used in a very effective way in his essay Coming into Language. His use of metaphors and similes really give the reader a visual, helping develop imagery. Baca’s use of imagery paints pictures in the reader’s head but also develops a type of emotion by the use of diction. The word choice used provides the reader with an understanding of where the author is coming from leading us into tone and mood. The author’s tone starts off very low but by the end of the essay you will feel very satisfied.
In the book Metaphors We Live By, authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson address the traditional philosophic view denouncing metaphor's influence on our world and our selves (ix). Using linguistic and sociological evidence, Lakoff and Johnson claim that figurative language performs essential functions beyond those found in poetry, cliché, and elaborate turns of phrase. Metaphor permeates our daily experiences - not only through systems of language, but also in terms of the way we think and act. The key to understanding a metaphor's effect on behavior, relationships, and how we make sense of our environment, can be found in the way humans use metaphorical language. To appreciate the affects of figurative language over even the most mundane details of our daily activity, it is necessary to define the term, "metaphor" and explain its role in defining the thoughts and actions that structure our conceptual system.
Abercrombie states that the human brain plays an active role in shaping the information presented to us, based on one’s past experiences. Kahneman claims that the human mind uses two systems of thinking, System 1 and System 2, where System 2 is more active and effortful than System 1. I attempt to illustrate how Abercrombie and Kahneman's ideal concepts of the perception of reality are applicable to real situations, by referring to the following three readings: Jung’s “The Personal and the Collective Unconscious,” Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” and Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The three readings relate to Abercrombie and Kahneman, considering the overlapping concepts of reality, that words and metaphors structure our understanding of what is real, reality can be altered from different perspectives, and that ignorance can actually be bliss.
...hings we cannot change but have to accept, all build our experiences. This umwelt of our existence structures our experiences and is what we use to create metaphors. "The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.S (Lakoff and Johnson, P. 5) To find meaning in our experiences we construct metaphors. These allow us to explain the past and to predict the future. Religion is a system of metaphors which helps us to create meaning out of life. To believe in a certain religion requires us to adopt it's metaphors.
Every person in that worldly population can relate to the use of metaphors in everyday speech, no matter what their language. It is not uncommon for someone to encounter metaphors multiple times in one day, though many times they go unnoticed even if they are “right under our nose.” These metaphorical phrases are not meant to be taken literally. For example, when someone tells you to “bite the bullet,” they are not requesting that you actually put a bullet in between your teeth. In fact, they are asking you to bravely face up to something unpleasant just as many soldiers were asked to clench a bullet in between their teeth (in lieu of anesthetics) to transfer the pain of the amputation or surgery (something very unpleasant indeed) that they were about to undergo (“Expressions and Sayings”).
In Mr. Brzoska’s class I had to choose four essays to analyze for figurative language. I dreaded the thought of having to read twelve essays, nor did I believe that I would enjoy the readings. When selecting the essays, I was driven by curiosity. I chose DON’T EAT BEFORE READING THIS by Anthony Bourdain, SANDRA BLAND AND OR VULNERABLE BODIES constructed by Roxane Gay, WHY WE CRAVE HORROR MOVIES by the famous Stephen King. Lastly, I selected FROM JAMAICA TO MINNESOTA TO MYSELF written by Marlon James.