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January 15, 2005
Metaphor & metonymy (White intro)
- from Wilson, Deirdre, and Dan Sperber. "On Verbal Irony." Lingua 87 (1992): 53-76. Rpt. The Stylistics Reader: From Roman Jakobson to the Present. Ed. Jean Jacques Weber. New York: St. Martin's, 1996. 260-79. "The words metaphor and metonymy are . . . classical tropes traditionally defined as the substitution of a figurative expression for a literal or proper one. In metaphor, the substitution is based on resemblance or analogy; in metonymy, it is based on a relation or association other than that of similarity (cause and effect, place and event or institution, instrument and user, etc.)" (232).
- from Johnson, Barbara. "Metaphor, Metonymy, and Voice in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God." Textual Analysis: Some Readers Reading. Ed. Mary Ann Caws. New York: Modern Language Association, 1986. 232-44.
Metaphor operates poetically; metonymy operates prosaically or logically. "Simile postulates the comparison: X is like Y. Metaphor synthesizes the comparison: X is Y. Metonymy is logical metaphor, in which the comparison is founded upon an actual, verifiable relation between objects or impressions: 'crown' is used instead of 'king,' 'queen' or 'royalty.' Allegory involves an extended parallel between a narrative and a subtext which mirrors the relation between the text and reality. . . . Simile, metonymy and allegory establish a balanced relationship between the use of language and conventional perceptions of reality, and occur as frequently in non-poetic discourse as in poetry" (28). - from Bradford, Richard. Stylistics. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Metonymy is "a device of symbolic substitution that replaces the subject meant with an attribute or related image."
Posted by senioritis at January 15, 2005 08:36 PM