8/20/2019 Linking My Theory of Metaphor

1/2

Linking My Theory of Metaphor(m) to Pragmatic Use

by Mark Sta Brandl

Metaphor(m)

A theory is a pictre of the !orld" one !ay to think abot reality" a sggested

method for seeing e#perience in that !ay$ %t sggests both is and is not" and e&en" %

assert" shold be and shold not be$ Artists can pictre life particlarly !ell" ths

being implicitly theorists$ Small changes in the pictres !ith !hich !e think" in or

metaphor base" the st of the creati&e arts" ha&e ma'or importance$ The

operations of e#tending" elaborating" composing and" most of all" estioning may

seem slight tools" yet they can bild impressi&e edices of nderstanding$ Metaphor

theory in general and my metaphor(m) idea in particlar point ot some of the

instantiations of this dri&e$ Trope*as*reasoning links theori+ation and creati&ity to

e&eryday thoght on the one hand" and to re&elatory ideation on the other$

An enclosed otation is enlightening here$ This is Bloom citing ,merson" adding

framing comments !hich are eally important$

,merson is totally -ichian !hen he identies rhetoric and reality" in his late essay

.Poetry and %magination/0

1or the &ale of a trope is that the hearer is one0 and indeed 2atre itself is a &ast

trope" and all particlar natres are tropes$ As the bird alights on the bogh" then

plnges into the air again" so the thoghts of 3od pase bt for a moment in any

form$ All thinking is analogi+ing" and it is the se of life to learn metonymy$

4hat ,merson is not saying is that !e are in the dngeon of langage$ Lacan

asserts that .it is the !orld of !ords that creates the !orld of things"/ and 5akobson"

less grati&ely" allo!s himself to insist that the poetry of grammar prodces the

grammar of poetry$ ,merson" like all central poets" kno!s that the grammar of

poetry prodces the grammar of poetry" since poetry is a discrsi&e and not a

lingistic mode$ 6olmes remarked that .,merson !as eminently sane for an

idealist"/ and sch sanity is eminently sefl no! in crrent discssions of the arts

of interpretation$7

,ally resonant is Bloom8s typical lack of footnoting$ 6e sees interpoetical" as

opposed to interte#tal" metaleptical analogi+ing as part and parcel of his o!n

thoghts$ Borro!ed metaphors are reformed by the glass of one8s o!n fashion" ths

becoming one8s o!n$ 6e is scholar enogh to name the people from !hom he has

8/20/2019 Linking My Theory of Metaphor

2/2

borro!ed" bt artist enogh to see no reason to make a specic roadmap to an

idea8s .rst/ e#pression$ This can be academically frstrating" yet yields an (%

belie&e nconscios) nity of form and content 9 ths it is Bloom8s o!n

metaphor(m)$ %t assmes the &isal" graphic presence of a doble indentation !hen

oted by me" highlighting this trait$

My theory of metaphor(m)" and the articles on this !ebsite" assert the preeminence

of the search for meaning" throgh metaphoric creati&ity" in art$ This is not an

attempt to restore some imagined" missing hint of a prport preceding the created

te#t or ob'ect$ %t is an a:rmation of the est for meaning as the central strggle in

creati&ity$ %t is no longer &iable to seek to disco&er some imagined intention of

meaning 9 the art!ork is the achie&ed meaning" throgh its metaphor(m)$ ,ach

art!ork is a comple# of mltiple meanings performati&ely embodied$ 6istorical fact

is a necessary and enlightening frame of reference to anchor ner associations;

ne&ertheless !hat a creator principally intended is al!ays for that specic ob'ect toe#ist$ 4hat all creators try to do can like!ise be plainly described$ They try to tell

trths 9 !ith emphasis placed on the &erb and the plral non ending$