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The Literary Mind The Orgins of Thought and Language 1996 187 pages Complementary Texts Keywords Copyright © 2000-2007 Isabel Pedersen |
Mark Turner's work analyzes the way mind thinks in the mode
of story. He posits a theory about
character blends, which is the method by which the subject blends different
domains of characters (e.g. humans and animals) in order to make sense of
complex relationships. He writes that “Talking Animals seem whimsical and
exotic, but they are not. They come from blending in parable, a phenomenon so
basic as to be indispensable to our conception of what it means to have a
human character and a human life” (139). Through narrative imagining, the
human subject metaphorically projects human sensibility (e.g., curiousness,
intelligence, cunning) and the physical traits of an animal into a blended
space. Hence one understands parables about the Wiley coyote, stubborn
donkey, curious cat and uses anthropomorphism for
one’s own sense-making. Drawing on Lakoff’s initial
premise of cognitive metaphor, Turner stresses that this process is one of
many that is basic to the human condition. In order to understand our world
and our roles, we use metaphorical projection and blending to complete our
sense of reality. |