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
- A cross-cultural study of animal metaphors - when owls are not wise
- Causes of Variation in Metaphor: Differential Experience
- Awareness of context
- Physical environment
- Social Context
- Cultural context
- Communicative situation
- Differential memory and the role of history
- Differential concerns and interests
Objectives and Key Themes
The primary objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between metaphor and culture, particularly through the lens of cross-cultural variations in animal metaphors. The paper focuses on the concept of “differential experience” as a major factor influencing these variations.
- The role of metaphor in understanding and shaping cultural understandings.
- Cross-cultural variations in metaphorical conceptualizations.
- The influence of different social and cultural contexts on metaphor use.
- The "Great Chain of Being" metaphor and its application in understanding animal metaphors.
- The impact of "differential experience" on the development and use of metaphors.
Chapter Summaries
The introduction delves into the complex relationship between metaphor and culture, arguing that metaphor is not merely a linguistic device, but a fundamental aspect of our cognitive understanding of the world. The paper then focuses on a cross-cultural study by Talebinejad & Dastjerdi (2005), which compares animal metaphors in English and Persian languages. This study provides valuable insights into the cultural influences on metaphorical conceptualizations and the ways in which "differential experience" impacts our understanding of animal metaphors.
Keywords
This paper focuses on the key concepts of metaphor, culture, cross-cultural variation, animal metaphors, differential experience, "Great Chain of Being" metaphor, and the impact of social and cultural contexts on language use. The study draws upon cognitive linguistics, anthropological perspectives on culture, and cross-linguistic analysis to explore these key concepts.
- Quote paper
- Katharina Eder (Author), 2009, Metaphor and Culture, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/149775
