The meaning of metaphor in literature. Metaphor in literature is a hidden comparison

from Greek metaphora - transfer, image) - the use of a word in a figurative meaning based on the similarity in any respect of two objects or phenomena; replacing an ordinary expression with a figurative one (for example, golden autumn, the sound of waves, an airplane wing).

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METAPHOR

from Greek metaphora - transfer) - a trope (see tropes) of a word, which consists in transferring the properties of one object, process or phenomenon to another on the basis of their similarity in some respect or contrast. Aristotle in “Poetics” noted that M. is “an unusual name, transferred from genus to species, or from species to genus, or from species to species, or by analogy.” Of the four kinds of M., wrote Aristotle, in Rhetoric the M. based on analogy deserve the greatest attention, for example: “Pericles spoke of youth killed in war as the destruction of spring among the seasons.” Aristotle considers M. action to be especially strong, that is, one where the analogy is based on the representation of the inanimate as animate, depicting everything as moving and living. And Aristotle considers Homer to be an example of the use of such metals: “The bitter sting of the arrow... bounced back from the copper. A sharp arrow rushed into the midst of the enemies, towards the intended greedy victim” (Iliad). But how, with the help of M., the actions of B.L. Pasternak creates the image of a cloud: “When a huge purple cloud, standing on the edge of the road, silenced the grasshoppers that were sultryly crackling in the grass, and the drums in the camps sighed and trembled, the earth grew dark in the eyes and there was no life in the world... The cloud looked over look at the low, baked stubble. They stretched all the way to the horizon. The cloud easily reared up. They extended further, beyond the camps. The cloud settled on its front legs and, smoothly crossing the road, silently crawled along the fourth rail of the siding” (Airways). When creating M., according to Quintilian (compendium “Twelve Books of Rhetorical Instructions”), the most typical will be the following four cases: 1) replacement (transfer of property) of one animate object with another animate one (today we can talk about the transfer of property from living to living, because The Greeks and Romans considered only people to be animate). For example: “There were horses - not horses, tigers” (E. Zamyatin. Rus'); the walrus “... rolls up onto the platform again, on its fat, powerful body Nietzsche’s mustachioed, bristly head with a smooth forehead appears” (V. Khlebnikov. Menagerie); 2) one inanimate object is replaced (property transfer occurs) with another inanimate object. For example: “A river swirls in the desert fog” (A. Pushkin. Window); “Above him is a golden ray of sun” (M. Lermontov. Sail); “A rusty leaf fell from the trees” (F. Tyutchev. N.I. Krolyu); “The boiling sea below us” (song “Varyag”); 3) replacement (transfer of properties) of an inanimate object with an animate one. For example: “The word is the greatest ruler: it looks small and imperceptible, but does wonderful things - it can stop fear and ward off sadness, cause joy, increase pity” (Gorgias. Praise to Elena); “The night is quiet, the desert listens to God, and star speaks to star” (M. Lermontov. I go out alone on the road...); “The rusty bolt at the gate will cry” (A. Bely. Jester); “Bright Kolomna, hugging my sister Ryazan, wets my bare feet in the tear-stained Oka” (N. Klyuev. Devastation); “The linden trees were chilled to the bones” (N. Klyuev. The linden trees were chilled to the bones...); 4) replacement (transfer of properties) of an animate object with an inanimate one. For example: “Strong heart” (i.e., stingy, cruel) - the officer says about the moneylender Sanjuelo (R. Lesage. The Adventures of Gil Blas from San Tillana); “The Sophists are poisonous shoots that cling to healthy plants, hemlock in a virgin forest” (V. Hugo. Les Misérables); “The Sophists are lush, magnificent flowers of the rich Greek spirit” (A. Herzen. Letters on the study of nature). Aristotle in “Rhetoric” emphasized that M. “has a high degree of clarity, pleasantness and a sign of novelty.” It was M., he believed, along with the commonly used words of his native language, that are the only material useful for the style of prose speech. M. is very close to comparison, but there is also a difference between them. M. is a rhetorical trope, the transfer of the properties of one object or phenomenon to another based on the principle of their similarity in some respect, and comparison is a logical technique similar to the definition of a concept, a figurative expression in which the depicted phenomenon is likened to another. Usually comparison is expressed using the words like, like, as if. M., in contrast to comparison, has greater expression. The means of language make it possible to separate comparison and M. quite strictly. This was done back in Aristotle’s Rhetoric. Here are comparisons by I. Annensky in “The Trefoil of Temptation”: “A cheerful day is burning... Among the withered grasses, all the poppies are spotted - like greedy impotence, like lips full of temptation and poison, like scarlet butterflies with unfurled wings.” They can easily be turned into a metaphor: Poppies are scarlet butterflies with unfolded wings. Demetrius, in his work “On Style,” considered another aspect of the relationship between M. and comparison. If M., he wrote, seems too dangerous, then it is easy to turn it into a comparison, inserting it, as it were, and then the impression of riskiness characteristic of M. will weaken. In the treatises of rhetoricians, in the works of specialists in the field of poetics and stylistics, most attention is paid to M himself. Quintilian called it the most common and beautiful of the tropes of rhetoric. It is, the Roman rhetorician believed, something innate and even in complete ignoramuses it often emerges in the most natural way. But it’s much nicer and more beautiful when M. tastefully sought out and in high speech shines with its own light. It increases the richness of the language by changing or borrowing everything that is lacking in it. M. is used to amaze the mind, to more strongly identify the subject and to present it as if before the eyes of the listeners. Of course, one cannot exaggerate her role. Quintilian noted that excess M. bothers the listener’s attention and turns speech into an allegory and a riddle. You should not use low and indecent M., as well as M. based on false similarity. Aristotle saw one of the reasons for the pompousness and coldness of a speaker’s speech in the use of inappropriate words. He believed that three types of words should not be used: 1) having a funny meaning; 2) the meaning of which is too solemn and tragic; 3) borrowed from afar, and therefore having an unclear meaning or poetic appearance. The subject of constant discussions, since antiquity, has been the question of how much metal can be used at the same time. Already the Greek theorists of rhetoric accepted as a “law” the simultaneous use of two, maximum three M. Having agreed, in principle, with this position, Pseudo-Longinus in his treatise “On the Sublime” still believes that the justification for the large number and courage of M. is “appropriate passion of speech and its noble sublimity. It is natural for the growing tide of stormy feeling to carry everything along with it.” It is these properties of M. that were superbly demonstrated by M.V. Lomonosov: “The master of many languages, the Russian language, not only in the vastness of the places where it dominates, but also in its own space and contentment, is great before everyone in Europe... Charles the Fifth... if he were skilled in the Russian language, then. .. would find in it the splendor of Spanish, the liveliness of French, the strength of German, the tenderness of Italian, and, moreover, the richness and strong brevity of Greek and Latin in images” (M. Lomonosov. Russian Grammar). Description of boron by E.I. Zamyatin is given through the use of numerous M.: “... Blue winter days, the rustle of snow chunks - from top to bottom along the branches, vigorous frosty crackling, a woodpecker hammering; yellow summer days, wax candles in gnarled green hands, transparent honey tears down hardened, strong trunks, cuckoos counting the years. But then the clouds swelled in the stuffiness, the sky split into a crimson crack, a drop of fire began to drip - and the centuries-old forest began to smoke, and by morning red tongues were buzzing all around, a thorn, a whistle, a crackling, a howl, half the sky was in smoke, the sun was barely visible in the blood” (E. Zamyatin. Rus'). B. paid a lot of attention to assessing the role of M. in fiction. L. Pasternak: “Art is realistic as an activity and symbolic as a fact. It is realistic in that it did not invent M. itself, but found it in nature and sacredly reproduced it” (B. Pasternak. Safe-conduct). “Metaphorism is a natural consequence of the fragility of man and the long-planned enormity of his tasks. Given this discrepancy, he is forced to look at things with the keen eye of an eagle and explain himself with instantaneous and immediately understandable insights. This is poetry. Metaphorism is a shorthand for a great personality, a shorthand for his spirit” (B. Pasternak. Notes on translations from Shakespeare). M. is the most common and most expressive of all tropes. Lit.: Ancient theories of language and style. - M.; L., 1936. - P. 215-220; Aristotle. Poetics // Aristotle. Works: In 4 vols. - M., 1984. - T. 4. - P. 669-672; Aristotle. Rhetoric // Ancient rhetoric. - M., 1978. - P. 130-135, 145-148; Arutyunova N.D. Metaphor//Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. - M., 1990; Demetrius. About style // Ancient rhetoric. - M., 1978; Jol K.K. Thought. Word. Metaphor. - Kyiv, 1984; Quintilian. Twelve books of rhetorical instructions. In 2 parts. - St. Petersburg, 1834; Korolkov V.I. On the extra-linguistic and intra-linguistic aspects of the study of metaphor // Uch. zap. MGPIIYA. - M., 1971. - Issue. 58; Lomonosov M.V. A short guide to eloquence: Book One, which contains rhetoric, showing the general rules of both eloquence, that is, oratorio and poetry, composed for the benefit of those who love verbal sciences // Anthology of Russian rhetoric. - M., 1997. - P. 147-148; Lvov M.R. Rhetoric: A textbook for students of grades 10-11. - M., 1995; Panov M.I. Rhetoric from antiquity to the present day // Anthology of Russian rhetoric. - M., 1997. - P. 31-32; Freidenberg O.M. Metaphor // Freidenberg O.M. Myth and literature of antiquity. - M., 1978; Encyclopedic Dictionary of Young Literary Critics: For Wednesdays and Seniors. school age / Comp. IN AND. Novikov. - M., 1988. - P. 167-169. M.I. Panov

A metaphor is an expression or word that is pronounced figuratively. The basis of a metaphor is a certain phenomenon or object that is similar to it. In simple terms, one word is replaced by another, which has a similar feature with it. Metaphor has been used in literature for a very long time.

Components of metaphor

The metaphor has 4 parts.

1. Context is a passage of text that has a complete form and unites in meaning all the individual words and sentences that are included in it.

2. Object.

3. The process itself by which this function is performed

4. Application of the process. The process can also intersect with various situations.

Back in Ancient Greece, Aristotle discovered such a concept as metaphor. It was he who formed the view of it as an accessory of language, which allows one to achieve various goals, including cognitive ones.

Ancient philosophers were sure that Mother Nature herself gave the metaphor to man. The metaphor has become so established in people’s everyday speech that there is no longer a need to call many concepts literally. The use of metaphor replenishes the lack of words in speech. After this, metaphor began to be considered as an additional application to the mechanism of language.

It was considered harmful to science because it led those who sought the truth into a dead end. But be that as it may, the metaphor continued to exist in literature, since it was necessary for it to develop. Metaphor was most often used in poetry.

And only from the beginning of the 20th century, metaphor was recognized as an integral part of Russian speech, and scientific materials that were written using it began to be written in completely new dimensions. This helped to combine materials that are of completely different nature.

Thanks to the metaphor, which was widely used in literature, we were able to see how riddles, proverbs, and allegories appear.

How a metaphor is built

The creation of a metaphor comes from 4 components: these are two groups and the properties of each of them. Features that are in one group of objects are offered to another group.

Let's say a person is called a lion. This means that such a person is endowed with similar characteristics. As a result, a new image is created, where the word “lion” has a figurative meaning and means “mighty and fearless.”

Metaphors are specific to different languages. In Russian, the word “donkey” can mean stubbornness and stupidity, but among the Spaniards it means hard work.

Literary metaphor may differ among different peoples. This must be taken into account when translating text from one language to another.

What functions does a metaphor include?

The most important function of metaphor is a very emotional coloring of speech. At the same time, rich and very capacious images can be created from completely different objects.

Another function of metaphor is nominative. It consists in filling the language with certain lexical or phraseological structures, such as, for example: pansies, bottle neck, river bend.

In addition to these functions, metaphor also performs many others. In fact, this is a very deep and broad concept.

What kinds of metaphors are there?

Metaphors are divided into the following types:

It connects concepts that lie on different planes. For example: “I’m walking through the city, as if shot with my eyes...”

2.Erased.

It has become so commonplace that its figurative character is almost invisible. Its figurative meaning is imperceptible, it has become so familiar. For example: “Since the very morning, people have already begun to reach out to me.” It can also be detected when text is translated from one language to another.

3.Metaphor-formula.

In this case, its transformation into a literal meaning is completely excluded (wheel of fortune, worm of doubt). This metaphor has long become a stereotype.

4. Expanded.

These metaphors, in logical sequence, contain quite a big message.

5.Implemented.

It is used for its intended purpose. For example: “I came to my senses, and there was a dead end again.”

What is metaphor in literature

I think that it will be very difficult for you to imagine modern life without various metaphorical images or comparisons. We come across metaphors in everyday life, but there are a lot of them in literature.

They are necessary to reveal various images and essences of phenomena as clearly as possible. The most effective metaphor in poetry is an extended one, which is presented in the following ways:

1.Indirect message. It uses figurative expression or some kind of story that uses comparisons.

2. Figures of speech in which words are used in a figurative sense. These words are based on analogy, similarity or comparison.

The expanded metaphor is revealed sequentially in a small text fragment: “At dawn, the dawn is washed with fine rain.”

A metaphor could become the author's goal and lead the reader to a completely new meaning, to a new, unexpected meaning. And there are many such metaphors in the works of classics. Take, for example, Gogol’s work “The Nose”. The word “nose” itself acquired a metaphorical meaning in his story. The works of William Shakespeare are especially rich in metaphors. They give characters and events a new meaning.

Conclusion

Metaphor has a very effective effect on human consciousness, thanks to its emotional coloring and its images. This is especially true in poetry. Metaphors influence a person so strongly that psychologists use this in their practice. They help patients solve mental problems.

If you have some kind of internal conflict and you cannot cope with it yourself, then I suggest you sign up for in cities such as Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Omsk and other regions of Russia, as well as Kazakhstan.

Peace to you in your soul!

With love, Irina Orda!

August 2017

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It began to be perceived as a separate part of speech in the 20th century, when the scope of use of this artistic technique expanded, which led to the emergence of new genres of literature - allegories, proverbs and riddles.

Functions

In Russian, as in all others, metaphor plays an important role and performs the following main tasks:

making a statement emotionality and figurative-expressive coloring;
vocabulary building new constructions and lexical phrases(nominative function);
bright unusual revelation of images and essence.

Thanks to the widespread use of this figure, new concepts have emerged. So, metaphorically means allegorically, figuratively, figuratively, and metaphorically expressed means used in an indirect, figurative meaning. Metaphorism - the use of metaphors to depict something.

Varieties

Difficulties often arise with how to define a given literary device and distinguish it from others. Define metaphor Available according to availability:

similarity in spatial location;
similarity in shape (a woman’s hat is a hat on a nail);
external similarity (sewing needle, spruce needle, hedgehog needle);
transferring any sign of a person to an object (silent man - silent film);
similarity of color (golden necklace – golden autumn);
similarity of activities (a candle is lit - a lamp is lit);
similarity of position (the sole of the boot is the sole of the rock);
similarities between humans and animals (ram, pig, donkey).

All of the above is confirmation that this is a hidden comparison. Proposed classification indicates what types of metaphors there are depending on the similarity of concepts.

Important! An artistic device has its own specifics in different languages, so its meaning may differ. Thus, Russian people associate “donkey” with stubbornness, and, for example, among Spaniards - with hard work.

expressive means classified according to various parameters. We offer a classic version that has existed since antiquity.

A metaphor could be:

Sharp– based on a comparison of different, almost incompatible concepts: the content of a statement.
Erased– one that is not regarded as a figurative expression: a table leg.
Look like a formula- similar to the erased one, but has more blurred edges of figurativeness, non-figurative expression in this case is impossible: a worm of doubt.
Implemented– when using an expression, its figurative meaning is not taken into account. Often realized with comic statements: “I lost my temper and got on the bus.”
Expanded metaphor– a figure of speech, which is built on the basis of association, implemented throughout the statement, is widespread in literature: “The book famine does not go away: products from the book market are increasingly turning out to be stale...”. It also occupies a special place in poetry: “Here the wind embraces flocks of waves in a strong embrace and throws them with wild anger onto the cliffs...” (M. Gorky).

Depending on the degree of prevalence there are:

common dry,
commonly used figurative,
poetic,
newspaper figurative,
author's figurative ones.

Examples of expressions

The literature is replete with sentences with metaphor, examples in Russian:

“There is a fire of red rowan burning in the garden” (S. Yesenin).
“As long as we burn with freedom, while our hearts live for honor...” (A. Pushkin)
“She sings - and the sounds melt...” (M. Lermontov) - the sounds melt;
“...The grass was crying...” (A.) - the grass was crying;
“There was a golden time, but it disappeared” (A. Koltsov) - a golden time;
“The autumn of life, like the autumn of the year, must be gratefully accepted” (E. Ryazanov) - the autumn of life;
“The ensigns stuck their eyes into the Tsar” (A. Tolstoy) - they stuck their eyes.

This is one of the most used images in speech. Poetry occupies a special place, where imagery comes to the fore.. In some works, these figures of speech occur throughout the entire narrative.

Vivid examples of metaphor in literature: dead night, golden head, iron fists, golden hands, iron character, heart of stone, like a cat crying, fifth wheel in a cart, wolf's grip.

Metaphor

Where did the metaphor come from? [Lectures on literature]

Conclusion

The technique of transferring similar qualities from one concept to another is often used in everyday speech. Finding many examples in fiction, prose and poetry is also not difficult, because this turn of phrase is the main one in any literary work.

The majesty of the Russian language knows no limits. We can rearrange words in a sentence, use words in some special form, or even come up with words (for example: “finch” - like some kind of detail or little thing). At the same time, we understand each other perfectly. It is difficult to explain such features to a foreigner. But even if you do not accept “words”, but use the Russian language like a true philologist, you are not immune from the perplexed expressions on the faces of foreigners (and sometimes Russian people). For example, you use trails. Today we’ll talk about one of its types: what is a metaphor?

Definition of metaphor

Metaphor (from Greek “figurative meaning”) is a type of trope; a phrase used in a figurative meaning, which is based on the transfer of characteristics from one phenomenon to another due to the presence of certain similarities between them (i.e. comparison).

3 elements of comparison

what is being compared ("subject")
what is it compared to ("image")
on what basis is it compared ("sign")

For example: “chocolate candy” - “chocolate tan” (transfer by color); “the dog howls” - “the wind howls” (the nature of the sound).

So, we conclude what a metaphor is in Russian: it is a figurative expression, a hidden comparison.

Functions of metaphor

Evaluation function

Metaphors are used to evoke in a person certain, fairly specific associations about an object (phenomenon).

For example: “wolf man”, “sharp vision”, “cold heart”.

Thus, the metaphor “wolf man” evokes associations associated with anger and predation.

Emotive-evaluative function

Metaphor is used to obtain an expressive effect as a means of emotional impact.

For example: “He looked at her like a ram at a new gate.”

Another function that shows why a metaphor is needed is a means of creating figurative speech. Here the metaphor is associated with artistic forms of reflecting the world. This function rather answers the question of what a metaphor is in literature. The function is expanding, now it is not only a comparison in order to strengthen some feature, now it is the creation of a new image in the imagination. Both the emotional and logical spheres are already involved: a metaphor creates an image and fills it with specific emotional content.

Nominative function

Inclusion (with the help of metaphor) of a new object in the cultural and linguistic context by creating a name for it by direct analogy. That is, a name is given to a new object (phenomenon) by comparing it with those that already exist in reality.

For example: “digest information” - that is, just as something is simmering and boiling in a saucepan, thoughts are “cooking” in your head (in a confined space). Or, for example, the head is called a bowler (due to its similar round shape).

The cognitive function of metaphors is obvious. Metaphors help to see what is essential in an object, the main properties. Metaphors fill our knowledge with new semantic content.

We have tried to explain clearly what a metaphor is. Examples will help you better understand the material. Try to come up with examples for each function of metaphor yourself.

Types of metaphors

A sharp metaphor. Connects concepts that are far apart in meaning. For example: "filling a statement"
Erased metaphor. On the contrary, it connects concepts whose figurative character is similar. For example: "table leg".
Metaphor-formula. Close to an erased metaphor, but even more stereotypical. Sometimes it cannot be converted into a non-figurative construction. For example: "worm of doubt."
Expanded metaphor. Unfolds throughout the entire statement, message (or throughout a large fragment).
A realized metaphor. A metaphor used as if it had a literal meaning (that is, the figurative nature of the metaphor is ignored). The outcome can be comical. For example: “I lost my temper and entered the house.”

Now you know what a metaphor is and why it is needed. Use them in conversation and surprise others.

This is called personification, which is identified as a separate type of expressive methods.

« Reifying«:

"deep sadness"
"glib argument"
"iron character"
"subtle thoughts"
"bitter truth",
"sweet lips"
"door handle"

They can safely be called epithets.

We bring to your attention a small Video lesson by Elena Krasnova:

Different ways to express feelings

Metaphor in our everyday speech makes it more emotional and expressive, but makes poetry more lively, bright and colorful. A beautiful metaphor will evoke the desired response in the reader and give rise to many different associations. In itself, it affects not only the mind, but also the feelings, our subconscious. It’s not for nothing that poets spend so much time selecting the right metaphors in their text.

All poets, in their work, very rarely limit themselves to one metaphor phrase. There are a lot of them. They clearly form a memorable image. Unfortunately, there are both original and banal words. Metaphors did not escape this fate either. Such clichés as: take root, forest of feet, toe of a shoe and others have become firmly established in our everyday life. But in poetry they will not add imagery to the poems. It is necessary to approach their choice very carefully and not descend into complete banality.

Russian poets such as Yesenin, Mayakovsky, Lermontov very often used expressive metaphors in their work. “The lonely sail is white,” one might say, has become a symbol of loneliness. It is necessary to describe, not name, feelings. Readers should be inspired by our image. In this case, the poet manages to influence aesthetically.

It should be the brightest, abstract from the essence, unexpected. Otherwise, where do you get imagery in your text? However, it must have realistic roots. Not to turn into a beautiful set of words and letters, but to evoke beautiful associations.