The main questions that arise given this way of thinking about the connection between metaphor and culture are on the one hand „To what extent do people share their metaphors?“, which at first seemingly trivial becomes much more significant and interesting if we ourselves „To what extent do people around the world share their understandings of images and aspects of the world they live in?“. These questions are of particular interest to me, and were decisive for me regarding the selection of the topic of this paper. In fact, the field of „Metaphor and Culture“ comprises many subtopics, such as for instance „Universality in Metaphorical Conceptualization“, „Cross-Cultural and Within-Cultural Variation in Metaphor“, „Conceptual Metaphors and Their Linguistic Expression in Different Languages“, „Metaphor and Cultural Models“, or „The Causes of Metaphor Variation“. Since I did not want to be too general in this paper, and also wanted to give insight into some practical aspects of the topic, I decided to concentrate on a two specific „subtopics“, and deal with them in greater detail. In the first part, the paper will shed light on a study by Talebinejad & Dastjerdi´s (2005), who chose animal metaphors for the comparison in two typologically different languages, namely English and Persian. The second part of this paper will address the “Causes of Variation in Metaphor”, whereas the focus lies exclusively on the field of “Differential Experience”.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. A cross-cultural study of animal metaphors - when owls are not wise
2. Causes of Variation in Metaphor: Differential Experience
2.1. Awareness of context
2.2. Physical environment
2.3. Social Context
2.4. Cultural context
2.5. Communicative situation
2.6. Differential memory and the role of history
2.7. Differential concerns and interests
Research Objectives and Themes
This work explores the intricate relationship between metaphor and culture, specifically examining how cognitive linguistic frameworks explain the variation in metaphorical conceptualizations. The central research question investigates to what extent people across different cultures share understandings of images and aspects of the world they inhabit, and what specific factors contribute to the variation in these metaphorical expressions.
- The role of metaphor in reflecting and constructing cultural models.
- A comparative cross-cultural analysis of animal metaphors in English and Persian.
- The influence of physical environment, social context, and cultural background on metaphor production.
- The cognitive and communicative factors that drive metaphor variation.
- The connection between personal experience, collective history, and metaphorical conceptualization.
Excerpt from the Book
1. A cross-cultural study of animal metaphors - when owls are not wise
The fact that animal metaphors are ubiquitous in world languages, and according to Kovecses (2002) a great part of human behaviour seems to be metaphorically understood in terms of animal behaviour, leads to the fact that the conceptual metaphor „People are animals“ exists. People themselves are described as some sort of animals themselves sometimes. Many linguists, philosophers and also anthropologists were struggling with the concern why and how animal-related word became to acquire the meaning they have now, and throughout time various studies and investigations were conducted. However, the recent interest in the field of metaphor studies, especially the field of cognitive linguistics, stems from the concern about the relation between language and culture. Basso (1976) considered metaphor an essential concept in comprehending this connection:
„For it is in metaphor- perhaps more than in any other form of symbolic expression- that language and culture come together and display their fundamental inseparability. A theory of one that excludes the other will inevitably do damage to both“ (93).
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: This chapter defines the foundational connection between metaphor and culture, establishing the cognitive linguistic view that metaphors are central to human thought rather than just ornamental language.
1. A cross-cultural study of animal metaphors - when owls are not wise: This chapter provides a comparative study of how English and Persian speakers utilize animal imagery to conceptualize human behavior and traits.
2. Causes of Variation in Metaphor: Differential Experience: This chapter analyzes the primary factors—such as environment, social structures, and history—that lead to variations in metaphorical usage across different cultural groups.
2.1. Awareness of context: This section explains how our unconscious monitoring of physical and social surroundings influences the metaphors we select.
2.2. Physical environment: This section explores how local geography, flora, and fauna shape the metaphorical patterns within specific language varieties.
2.3. Social Context: This section addresses how power relations and social pressures within a society impact the production of metaphorical language.
2.4. Cultural context: This section illustrates how deep-seated cultural principles and key concepts permeate and shape the metaphorical understanding of emotions.
2.5. Communicative situation: This section examines how the "pressure of coherence" in specific settings leads to the creation of novel or non-conventional metaphors.
2.6. Differential memory and the role of history: This section argues that collective and personal history are crucial factors in determining the metaphors used by a specific group.
2.7. Differential concerns and interests: This section explores how current professional or personal interests drive individuals to express target domains through specific source domains.
Keywords
Metaphor, Culture, Cognitive Linguistics, Animal Metaphors, Cross-cultural Analysis, Conceptual Metaphor, Cultural Models, Differential Experience, Social Context, Linguistic Variation, Cognitive Processes, Great Chain of Being, Persian, English, Semantic Theory.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work focuses on the intersection of metaphor and culture, exploring how metaphors are not just linguistic devices but essential components of thought that reflect the cultural environments in which they emerge.
What are the central themes discussed?
The central themes include the universality versus the cultural specificity of metaphors, the cognitive mapping of animal traits onto humans, and the environmental, social, and historical factors that lead to metaphor variation.
What is the main research question?
The research asks to what extent humans around the world share their metaphorical understandings of the world and why these conceptualizations differ across cultures.
Which scientific methods are employed?
The study utilizes a cross-cultural comparative analysis, drawing upon existing cognitive linguistic frameworks such as Lakoff and Johnson's "Metaphors We Live By" and Kovecses’s theories on the causes of metaphor variation.
What does the main part of the text cover?
The main part covers a detailed comparison of English and Persian animal metaphors and provides an extensive analysis of the "differential experience" categories that influence how people conceptualize abstract notions.
What are the characterizing keywords of the study?
Key terms include Metaphor, Culture, Cognitive Linguistics, Cross-cultural Analysis, Conceptual Metaphor, and Differential Experience.
How does the "Great Chain of Being" metaphor function in this study?
It acts as a conceptual framework that allows researchers to map general human character traits onto nonhuman attributes and vice versa, helping to explain the coherence of apparently unrelated metaphors.
Why is the "owl" metaphor a key example in this work?
The owl is used to demonstrate radical cultural differences: while in English it symbolizes wisdom, in Persian it is seen as inauspicious and a sign of bad luck, highlighting how cultural values dictate metaphorical meaning.
What role does "differential experience" play in metaphor variation?
Differential experience accounts for why metaphors vary; it suggests that because individuals and societies have different histories, environments, and social pressures, their metaphorical source domains will naturally differ.
- Quote paper
- Katharina Eder (Author), 2009, Metaphor and Culture, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/149775
