Evolution of the metaphor

The metaphor, a comparison between two things, has evolved through stages. There are two aspects of the metaphor, one is the tenor and the other the vehicle. It is a thin stick is a metaphor. In it, it is a tenor and a thin stick is the vehicle.

The metaphor has come a long way in its evolution to the present. Here, in this essay, I would like to describe the functions of metaphor and the categories to which they belong. Metaphors can be classified into spiritual or transcendental metaphors, literary or aesthetic metaphors, political metaphors, psychological metaphors, and cultural metaphors.

Spiritual or transcendental metaphors focus on the divine as the celebrity of thought. I would like to invoke an Egyptian scribe who said: my writing resembles the sun god. Jesus said: I am the way: the truth and the life. Father, give us daily bread today. The seed of life is the fruit of God. God is the wind of a transcendental spirit. God echoes the mercy of the heart. Heaven is the throne of God and earth is the footstool of God. God’s love is endless, like a deep ocean. In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God: the Word was God. I am the Alpha and the Omega: beginning and end. These are examples of a spiritual metaphor and focus on the transcendental spirit that is God.

With the passage of time, metaphors became literary and aesthetic. Here are some examples. The bed is the passion of poetry. Shakespeare said: all the world is a stage and all men simply actors. Stars are twinkling buttons in the night sky. Anguish is a corpse of darkness. A dream is an echo of the subconscious. The sky is a gray veil. Lovers kiss like poems. The sunset is a prose architecture. Life is a joyous stream that flows towards a destination. The darkness of night is replaced by the joy of dawn. Literary or aesthetic metaphors are a cosmetic of words and then they devote themselves to beautifying life.

The next domain of metaphor is political. Here are some examples. Oh freedom, what a price he has paid in blood! The rhetoric of democracy is free will to cast a vote. Palestine is freedom in chains. Socrates is a martyr for democracy. We need more ballots than weapons to achieve freedom. Mahatma Gandhi liberated India through the metaphors of non-violence. Communism is dead and extinct.

The next functional area of ​​the metaphor is cultural. Let me highlight it with some examples. America is the melting pot of cultures. Each nation sings hymns in praise of the God of culture. Writing is a bourgeois enterprise. Language is the culture of music. Rock music is a culture that rebelled against the politicization of capitalism. The Beatnik revolution expressed its solidarity for peace. Cultural metaphors speak the language and history of the culture.

The next area of ​​metaphor has its roots in psychology. Here are some examples. Religion is the opium of the masses. The hill is a symbol of the male dream and the valley a symbol of the female dream. Joy is a metaphor for a psychological orgasm. The mind is a universe of books. The brain is a freedom of thoughts.

In conclusion, I would like to say that metaphors have evolved over time. At first, they were spiritual and gradually developed into other organic forms such as political, literary, psychological, and cultural.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *