Inferiority In Conceptual Metaphors Essay
The Conceptualization of 17th Century Inferiority in Conceptual Metaphors
Our perception of the social system, morality and human relations is an influential factor on how human´s mentally and linguistically express themselves through figurative speech. By examining human´s tendency to personify abstract entities with concrete structures, increases our understanding of how the human lexicon associates and maps multiple source domains with their targets. As each individual´s experiences and background knowledge varies, their figure of thought, or sense of reality, is illustrated in their rhetorical processing. That being said, in 1724 one of England´s first feminists, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wrote a poem describing how the injustices patriarchal …show more content…
laws affected women from a woman´s perspective. The poem illustrates the patriarchal society of the 17th century suppressing women and keeping them within their societal roles. This paper examines the use of metaphorical linguistic expressions in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu´s (1724; Greenblatt, 2012, p. 2763-65) poem "Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to her Husband", in accordance with the framework of metaphor and feminist theory. I will present and analyze a number of conceptual metaphors correlating with marriage, morality and women, and their association with human behavior and social hierarchy within the Great Chain of Being.
Metaphors are linguistic devices humans use to convey thoughts of abstract or concrete concepts with figurative phrasal expressions.
They are clusters of words that occur together under certain circumstances. However, words and phrases can have both positive or negative connotations depending upon individual´s social and cultural experiences. While some words may have the same denotative, their connotative meaning can be allusively dissimilar. In a like manner, metaphors are figurative expressions that connote meanings beyond their literal meanings. Specifically, denotations are literal aspects of words while connotations depend on a learner´s emotional association with a word, not the words literal meaning. Using metaphors in speech means associating two different concepts that have something in common with each other to illustrate a mental thought or an idea. To understand metaphorically conveyed ideas entails having the unconscious ability to connect the two domains together and cognitively build networks with associations. In truth, articulating thoughts through language is a secondary process as the prospect of the mapping itself is a primary attribute. Nevertheless, this primary ability helps humans map conceptual metaphors ontologically from one source domain to a target
domain.
In Lakoff´s and Johnson´s (1980) and Lakoff´s and Turner´s (1989) framework, metaphors are defined as cognitive processes embedded in human unconsciousness. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) method assists in mapping human´s conceptual system by using mnemonics. The mnemonic device enables the mind to generate an idea, recall information and connect ideas. This type of cognitive processing is categorized further in Gibb´s (1990) psycholinguistic definition of the three levels of metaphor. The first level is where conceptual metaphors are stored in individual´s lexicon and provides speakers with existing metaphors at the supra-individual level (Kövecses, 2010). However, the second level, the individual level, determines how individuals use metaphors by distinguishing conceptual metaphors from their metaphorical linguistic expression (Kövecses, 2010). In other words, the target domain (abstract) is understood through the corresponding source domain (concrete) from where metaphorical expressions are drawn. This third level, subindividual level, of sensorimotor experiences associates two domains, the source with the target, into one and motivates the use of conceptual metaphors in language.
However, distinguishing conceptual metaphors can be complicated as target domains may have many source domains, and their structure is dependent on individual´s associations and background knowledge. Although some conceptual metaphors have preexisting similarity, they are metaphorically utilized to a certain extent, and their metaphorical mappings from a source to a target is only partially highlighted (Kövecses, 2010). Therefore, one source domain cannot determine all aspects of a specific target due to the metaphors complexity. This type of complexity is demonstrated with seven source domains of the target domain of LOVE:
Source: JOURNEY Target: LOVE the travelers ⇒ the lovers the vehicle ⇒ the love relationship itself the journey ⇒ events in the relationship the distance covered ⇒ the progress made the obstacles encountered ⇒ the difficulties experienced decisions about which way to go ⇒ choices about what to do the destination of the journey ⇒ the goal(s) of the relationship (Kövecses, 2010, p. 97)
As shown, one target can have multiple sources distinguishing its meaning. People´s previous experiences not only influence how they conceptualize concepts, but also motivate how they correlate conceptual metaphors sources with their targets to perceive the world consciously around them. With this in mind, Kövecses (2010) list of source domains provides a structure to define the target concepts of the conceptual metaphors in Lady Montagu´s poem. Kövecses (2010) list contains frequently used target and source domains for English and is a vital tool in analyzing conceptual metaphors in texts (MARRIAGE IS WAR). The list consists of thirteen major source domains ranging from The Human Body, Health and Illness, Animals, Plants, Buildings and Construction, Machines and Tools, Games and Sport, Money and Economic Transactions, Cooking and Food, Heat and Cold, Light and Darkness, to Forces and Movement and Direction (Kövecses, 2010, p. 18-27). In analyzing Lady Montagu´s poem "Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to her Husband" the metaphorical expressions are examined according to the model of theories explained above.
The poem demonstrates Lady Montagu´s embodied thoughts, cognitively processed and unconsciously oriented to express and protest the abandonment and discrimination of Mrs. Yonge in the 17th century. After Mrs. Yonge was found guilty of having committed adultery, her husband publically humiliated her by petitioning for a divorce and, as a result, was granted her dowry as well as "the greater part of her fortune" (Greenblatt, 2012, p. 2764). This paper will focus on briefly mapping the individual expressions and figures of speech found in the poem. In doing so, the conceptual metaphors schema that organize the poets thought are interpreted. The primary target domains that define the social and cultural aspects of Lady Montagu´s time are MARRIAGE and MORALITY as well as WOMEN. These targets are primarily associated with the source domains of CONTAINERS, HUMAN BODY, DIRECTION, MOVEMENT, ECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS, SLAVERY, HIERARCHY in society, and the metaphorical system of the Great Chain of Being.
Our perception of the social system, morality and human relations is an influential factor on how human´s mentally and linguistically express themselves through figurative speech. By examining human´s tendency to personify abstract entities with concrete structures, increases our understanding of how the human lexicon associates and maps multiple source domains with their targets. As each individual´s experiences and background knowledge varies, their figure of thought, or sense of reality, is illustrated in their rhetorical processing. That being said, in 1724 one of England´s first feminists, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wrote a poem describing how the injustices patriarchal …show more content…
laws affected women from a woman´s perspective. The poem illustrates the patriarchal society of the 17th century suppressing women and keeping them within their societal roles. This paper examines the use of metaphorical linguistic expressions in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu´s (1724; Greenblatt, 2012, p. 2763-65) poem "Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to her Husband", in accordance with the framework of metaphor and feminist theory. I will present and analyze a number of conceptual metaphors correlating with marriage, morality and women, and their association with human behavior and social hierarchy within the Great Chain of Being.
Metaphors are linguistic devices humans use to convey thoughts of abstract or concrete concepts with figurative phrasal expressions.
They are clusters of words that occur together under certain circumstances. However, words and phrases can have both positive or negative connotations depending upon individual´s social and cultural experiences. While some words may have the same denotative, their connotative meaning can be allusively dissimilar. In a like manner, metaphors are figurative expressions that connote meanings beyond their literal meanings. Specifically, denotations are literal aspects of words while connotations depend on a learner´s emotional association with a word, not the words literal meaning. Using metaphors in speech means associating two different concepts that have something in common with each other to illustrate a mental thought or an idea. To understand metaphorically conveyed ideas entails having the unconscious ability to connect the two domains together and cognitively build networks with associations. In truth, articulating thoughts through language is a secondary process as the prospect of the mapping itself is a primary attribute. Nevertheless, this primary ability helps humans map conceptual metaphors ontologically from one source domain to a target
domain.
In Lakoff´s and Johnson´s (1980) and Lakoff´s and Turner´s (1989) framework, metaphors are defined as cognitive processes embedded in human unconsciousness. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) method assists in mapping human´s conceptual system by using mnemonics. The mnemonic device enables the mind to generate an idea, recall information and connect ideas. This type of cognitive processing is categorized further in Gibb´s (1990) psycholinguistic definition of the three levels of metaphor. The first level is where conceptual metaphors are stored in individual´s lexicon and provides speakers with existing metaphors at the supra-individual level (Kövecses, 2010). However, the second level, the individual level, determines how individuals use metaphors by distinguishing conceptual metaphors from their metaphorical linguistic expression (Kövecses, 2010). In other words, the target domain (abstract) is understood through the corresponding source domain (concrete) from where metaphorical expressions are drawn. This third level, subindividual level, of sensorimotor experiences associates two domains, the source with the target, into one and motivates the use of conceptual metaphors in language.
However, distinguishing conceptual metaphors can be complicated as target domains may have many source domains, and their structure is dependent on individual´s associations and background knowledge. Although some conceptual metaphors have preexisting similarity, they are metaphorically utilized to a certain extent, and their metaphorical mappings from a source to a target is only partially highlighted (Kövecses, 2010). Therefore, one source domain cannot determine all aspects of a specific target due to the metaphors complexity. This type of complexity is demonstrated with seven source domains of the target domain of LOVE:
Source: JOURNEY Target: LOVE the travelers ⇒ the lovers the vehicle ⇒ the love relationship itself the journey ⇒ events in the relationship the distance covered ⇒ the progress made the obstacles encountered ⇒ the difficulties experienced decisions about which way to go ⇒ choices about what to do the destination of the journey ⇒ the goal(s) of the relationship (Kövecses, 2010, p. 97)
As shown, one target can have multiple sources distinguishing its meaning. People´s previous experiences not only influence how they conceptualize concepts, but also motivate how they correlate conceptual metaphors sources with their targets to perceive the world consciously around them. With this in mind, Kövecses (2010) list of source domains provides a structure to define the target concepts of the conceptual metaphors in Lady Montagu´s poem. Kövecses (2010) list contains frequently used target and source domains for English and is a vital tool in analyzing conceptual metaphors in texts (MARRIAGE IS WAR). The list consists of thirteen major source domains ranging from The Human Body, Health and Illness, Animals, Plants, Buildings and Construction, Machines and Tools, Games and Sport, Money and Economic Transactions, Cooking and Food, Heat and Cold, Light and Darkness, to Forces and Movement and Direction (Kövecses, 2010, p. 18-27). In analyzing Lady Montagu´s poem "Epistle from Mrs. Yonge to her Husband" the metaphorical expressions are examined according to the model of theories explained above.
The poem demonstrates Lady Montagu´s embodied thoughts, cognitively processed and unconsciously oriented to express and protest the abandonment and discrimination of Mrs. Yonge in the 17th century. After Mrs. Yonge was found guilty of having committed adultery, her husband publically humiliated her by petitioning for a divorce and, as a result, was granted her dowry as well as "the greater part of her fortune" (Greenblatt, 2012, p. 2764). This paper will focus on briefly mapping the individual expressions and figures of speech found in the poem. In doing so, the conceptual metaphors schema that organize the poets thought are interpreted. The primary target domains that define the social and cultural aspects of Lady Montagu´s time are MARRIAGE and MORALITY as well as WOMEN. These targets are primarily associated with the source domains of CONTAINERS, HUMAN BODY, DIRECTION, MOVEMENT, ECONOMIC TRANSACTIONS, SLAVERY, HIERARCHY in society, and the metaphorical system of the Great Chain of Being.