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SUMMARY:Metaphor - Irving Massey\, Professor (Emeritus) of English and Com
 parative Literature and Adjunct Professor (Emeritus) of French\, Universit
 y at Buffalo\; former Visiting Fellow Wolfson College
DTSTART:20150604T153000Z
DTEND:20150604T180000Z
UID:TALK59645@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Graham Allen
DESCRIPTION:The first section of the talk describes what might be called a
  standard metaphor\, in which one contemplates something\, then adds a com
 parison that sharpens one's awareness of the object. What had been a mere 
 word becomes an experience.\nThe second section is about what might be cal
 led the extreme metaphor. The phrase describes a situation in which "conno
 tative" perception precedes "denotative" perception: the comparative term 
 (the so-called "vehicle" of the metaphor) comes out to meet the object. It
  does not wait to be thought of\, summoned\, or added to the object.\nI co
 nclude that the differences between these two forms of metaphor are irreco
 ncilable.\nI will then point out that there are some genuine difficulties 
 in distinguishing between metaphor and nonsense. it is also well known tha
 t people with Asperger's syndrome tend to take metaphors literally: what i
 s more\, the signals registered in their brains in response to metaphors a
 nd to nonsense are the same.\nFinally\, I would like to point out that the
  narrative element in metaphor has not been fully recognized. I believe th
 at each metaphor is a mini-narrative\, and that\, therefore\, it does not 
 make much more sense to ask whether a metaphor carries information about t
 he "tenor" than to ask whether a story carries such information.\n
LOCATION:Gatsby Room\, Wolfson College
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