Communication Exam 3
What do Lakoff and Johnson mean when they say that metaphors create new realities?
Because we think in metaphor, we act on the basis of it, which creates new subjective realities for us. A new reality can be created when we "start to comprehend our experience in terms of a metaphor and it becomes a deeper reality when we begin to act in terms of it."
How is Vico's discussion of "poetic logic" different than and similar to Burke's discussion of "poetic meaning"?
Burke discusses poetic meaning as the attitudinal characteristics of words/phrases. It requires the reader to be an active participant who analyzes all the possible emotional diameters in order to understand the writer's vision. Vico discusses poetic logic as the understanding of things through our own experiences. Early poets used poetic logic (not understanding something so you makes the something out of himself) to understand and define metaphysical things.
How is Certeau's account of literal meaning similar to and different than Vico's account of literal meaning?
Certeau's literal meaning is talking about the author's intended specific meaning of a text promoted by elites, but Vico's literal meaning is talking about the interpreter of something's initial response to it: which is metaphorical even though unaware.
How would Dewey explain what metaphors are and what they do? How would Lippmann explain what metaphors are and what they do?
Dewey: metaphors are within the basis of our habits, which we cling to and base our actions upon. Lippmann: metaphors are the preconceptions of an unfamiliar phenomenon, which one uses to try to understand something. Stereotypes/metaphors are just using previous experiences/knowledge to understand/define something else.
According to Lakoff and Johnson, what makes a metaphor good? What makes a metaphor bad?
It depends on the metaphor. It is not the true or falsity of a metaphor, but the perceptions and inferences that follow from it and the actions that are sanctioned by it. They highlight and hide certain aspects of reality, but that has the potential to be good or bad depending on the metaphorical concept.
What does it mean to say that metaphors highlight and hide?
Metaphors highlight things congruent to the metaphorical concept, but hide aspects of reality/events/stuff that don't match up with the metaphor. example: the argument is war highlights tension and opposition within argument but hides the potential for cooperation.
How are myths and metaphors similar to each other?
Myths use metaphor to explain a phenomenon, while metaphor uses X to explain Y. They both require imagination and show meaning for something else.
How might all metaphors be ontological metaphors?
Ontological metaphors: "ways of viewing events, activities, emotions, ideas, etc. as entities and substances. All metaphor is an attempt to better understand something not so familiar with something familiar, so in this sense, all metaphors are ontological.
What does it mean to say that poetic meaning "goes through" drama whereas semantic meaning "avoids" drama?
Poetic meaning goes through drama because it forces the interpreter of these words to evaluate all emotional/contextual implications of a word to try to derive its vision from the maximum heaping up of all these emotional factors. The semantic meaning avoids drama by trying to cut away all emotional factors that complicate the objective clarity of meaning.
What does Burke mean by "poetic" meaning?
Poetic meaning is the emotional/contextual meaning of a word. It places things, people, events, stuff within dramas/stories. It's a style of pointing as opposed to merely pointing. The poetic meaning directs intention of something. (Example: one may say, "ho, ho! A chair!" after standing all day long)
What does Kenneth Burke mean by "semantic" meaning? What is the semantic "ideal"?
Semantic meaning is the clear-cut meaning of a word. It isolates one thing from all the rest. The semantic meaning points/directs attention to something. (Example: a chair) The semantic ideal aims to strip away emotion from a word's meaning. It would be pointing/directing attention to a single thing, but nothing else.
How do metaphors have semantic meaning and poetic meaning (in Burke's sense of these words)?
Semantic meaning is the literal meaning of a word that requires no contextual or emotional understanding. Poetic meaning is the emotional and contextual meaning of a word. Metaphor is understanding X as if it were Y. Metaphors have literal or semantic meanings in the sense that if metaphors as metaphorical concepts are ingrained into the conceptual system of a group of individuals like argument is war is, then the language of argument is literal. We conceive of argument this way and that makes us talk about it in that way. We don't actually think we are using metaphor when we go about doing this. Metaphor has poetic meaning though in the sense that it has varying degrees of true and falseness. Metaphors are not semantically accurate, but poetically, there are because they have a wide range of interpretation, not just a univocal one.
When we claim to be speaking "literally," what would Vico say that it is that we are actually doing?
Speaking in metaphor. We do not realize this, but the way we think and write is inherently poetic, which is metaphorical.
How do Lakoff and Johnson use the word "metaphorical concept" as a term that is more precise than the word "metaphor"?
The metaphorical concept is not merely the words/behavior/metaphorical expressions of a metaphor, but the entire concept that those expressions are based upon/around. It is the way we think about phenomena, which allows for metaphorical linguistics, or, just metaphor.
How is the terms "metaphorical concept" different than "metaphorical expression"?
The metaphorical concept is part of one's conceptual system/how they think or act upon things. (They are claiming these conceptual systems are ingrained in metaphor) The metaphorical expression is merely the words or behaviors that exemplify metaphor.
What is the point of this essay? What is he trying to say to us?
The point of this essay is to argue that words need their poetic meanings to offer a better understanding of the subjectiveness/emotional implication of the intention of a word.
How is the "test" for poetic meaning different than the test for semantic meaning?
There is no syllogistic test (deductive reasoning) for the poetic meaning because poetic meanings cannot be categorically excluded from each other on a true or false basis. The test for a metaphor's validity would not be a formal one, but one that aims to choose a meaning that best allows for a wider scope, perspective, range, etc so one can do the most with it.
How do metaphors affect (or is it "effect") our view of the world? What is the precise way that they do their work?
They affect our view of the world because they are ingrained deeply in our conceptual systems which shape our perceptions. Metaphor plays a significant role in determining what is real for us because much of our social world is understood in metaphorical terms as well as part of the physical world.
Postman says that we perceive the world through particular mediums. Lippmann says we define first and then we see, through fictions or stereotypes. How does Vico say that we go about understanding the world around us?
Vico says that when man understands, he extends his mind and takes in the things, but when he does NOT understand something, he attempts to by making the things out of himself and becomes them by transforming himself into them.
Which word would Vico be most likely to make his key term, metaphor, metaphorical expression, or metaphorical concept?
Vico, considering he focuses mainly on the linguistics of metaphor, would most likely choose metaphorical expression as his key term, because he talks about how we define through metaphor by taking the linguistics of a familiar thing to create a definition/collection of terms/diction to be able to effectively talk about an unfamiliar one.
How does Certeau use "reading" as a metaphor for thinking about media consumption as a whole?
We (consumers of media) do not have to believe/trust/read/take in/interpret similarly what the media (producers) is telling us.
What metaphors for thinking about reading does Certeau oppose? What do those metaphors hide about reading, according to Certeau?
writer (producer) and reader (consumer)
What metaphors for thinking about reading does Certeau prefer? What do those metaphors reveal about reading, according to Certeau?
writer (producer) and reader (consumer)
