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Understanding Figurative Proverbs: A Model Based on Conceptual Blending

2013; Routledge; Volume: 124; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0015587x.2012.734442

1469-8315

Daniel Andersson,

Linguistics and Discourse Analysis

Abstract Proverb meaning has been an issue in paremiological research for a long time. In this paper the cognitive linguistic theory of conceptual blending, or blending theory, is explored as a starting point in the discussion of figurative proverbs. This theory is combined here with the notion of 'base meaning'. Furthermore, the concept of 'extended base meaning' is introduced as a 'thick' meaning description, especially useful when proverbs are discussed in relation to collective knowledge structures. Notes 1 The effort here, to reach a detailed interpretation of meaning in a certain cultural context, is a move towards an internal perspective, and makes this type of meaning description similar to the anthropological method of 'thick description' (see Geertz 1973 Geertz, Clifford. 1973. "Thick Description: Toward an Interpretative Theory of Culture". In The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays by Clifford Geertz, 3–30. New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar]). 2 Mieder's complete definition goes as follows: 'Proverbs [are] concise traditional statements of apparent truths with currency among the folk. More elaborately stated, proverbs are short, generally known sentences of the folk that contain wisdom, truths, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed, and memorizable form and that are handed down from generation to generation' (Mieder 1996 Mieder, Wolfgang. 1996. "Proverbs". In American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, Edited by: Brunvand, Jan Harold. 597–621. New York: Garland. [Google Scholar], 597). 3 See Grzybek (1994 Grzybek, Peter. 1994. "Foundations of Semiotic Proverb Study". In Wise Words: Essays on the Proverb, Edited by: Mieder, Wolfgang. 31–71. New York & London: Garland. [Google Scholar]) for an overview of the semiotic study of proverb meaning. 4 See Briggs (1985 Briggs, Charles L. 1985. Proverb Performances in New Mexican Spanish. American Anthropologist, 87: 793–810. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for an illustrative study of proverb performances in New Mexican Spanish. 5 Conceptual metaphors are understood here as culturally shared, unconscious, and automatic connections between two cognitive domains; as, for example, between 'love' and 'journey' in the 'love is a journey' metaphor (see Lakoff and Johnsson 1980 Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark. 1980. Metaphors We Live By, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1999 Lakoff, George and Johnson, Mark. 1999. Philosophy in the Flesh: The Embodied Mind and its Challenge to Western Thought, New York: Basic Books. [Google Scholar]; Lakoff and Turner 1989 Lakoff, George and Turner, Mark. 1989. More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 6 This could perhaps be explained by the type of their data. The expression 'jelly in a vise', for example (Lakoff and Turner 1989 Lakoff, George and Turner, Mark. 1989. More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 186), does not express an independent 'wisdom' and does not constitute a proverb, as the genre is defined in the present study. 7 See also Michael Kiang et al. (2007 Kiang, Michael, Light, Gregory A., Prugh, Jocelyn, Coulson, Seana, Braff, David L. and Kutas, Marta. 2007. Cognitive, Neurophysiological, and Functional Correlates of Proverb Interpretation Abnormalities in Schizophrenia. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 13: 653–63. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for a discussion of proverbs and schizophrenia where the theory of conceptual blending is utilized. 8 In my view, proverb blends are often facilitated by more stable metaphorical connections, and this interplay should be thoroughly studied. In three of the four examples discussed here the conceptual metaphor 'human is animal' (see K?vecses 2010, 153) facilitates the understanding of human affairs in the light of animal characteristics. Furthermore, the understanding of how men behave is probably built upon the notion that 'sexual desire is hunger', and the understanding of marriage rests on the conceptual metaphor 'social structures are physical structures'—or specifically, 'marriage (for women) is a restraining structure'. Another example is the conceptual metaphor 'seeing is knowing', which is fundamental to the proverb 'Even a blind hen finds a grain'. 9 See Arora (1984 Arora, Shirley L. 1984. The Perception of Proverbiality. Proverbium, 1: 1–38. [Google Scholar]) on 'proverbiality' and Briggs (1985 Briggs, Charles L. 1985. Proverb Performances in New Mexican Spanish. American Anthropologist, 87: 793–810. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for an example of proverb performance. 10 Swedish: 'När katten är borta, dansar råttorna på bordet' (Holm 1975 Holm, Pelle. 1975. Ordspråk och talesätt [Proverbs and sayings], Stockholm: Bonniers. [Google Scholar], 171); in English, usually, 'When the cat's away, the mice will play'. 11 Swedish: 'Ingen rök utan eld' (Holm 1975 Holm, Pelle. 1975. Ordspråk och talesätt [Proverbs and sayings], Stockholm: Bonniers. [Google Scholar], 278); in English, usually, 'Where there's smoke, there's fire'. 12 The interplay between this metaphor and the blending process is not investigated further here. 13 This proverb can be used to comment on other situations than those involving human beings; for example, it could be used to talk about animal behaviour. What happens then is that the base meaning of the proverb, which, as has been shown above, most probably constitutes a theory of human behaviour, is applied with the aid of a sort of personification. This enables the understanding of animals in the light of human behaviour and properties. 14 Sven.j: '"Även en blind höna hittar ett korn", sägs det ju'. This proverb is described in a Swedish proverb dictionary in the following way, 'En blind höna finner också stundom ett korn (den enfaldige l. okunnige kan någon gång träffa det rätta)' (Holm 1975 Holm, Pelle. 1975. Ordspråk och talesätt [Proverbs and sayings], Stockholm: Bonniers. [Google Scholar], 40); that is, 'A blind hen can occasionally also find a grain (the stupid or ignorant can sometimes get it right)'. 15 Dagge: 'Mytologi är ett fiktivt korn som en blind höna hittat på historier om för att hon inte vet något om det'. Then, 'Vad kan de ha gamla egyptierna hittat i sin mytologi som var så sant att kristendomen var tvungen att låna det?' 16 All proverbs and comments from collectors have been translated into English. 17 Swedish: 'Käran ä som koen efter söppen' (DAUM 3859, no. 5). This proverb can also be found with an initial 'Boys' instead of 'Men'. 18 The highly general conceptual metaphor 'human is animal' (see Kövecses 2010, 153) also facilitates this and other proverbs that use animals to convey messages about humans. 19 Swedish: 'Katta kan int stå i bann' (ULMA 2288:2, no. 120).