tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706019632027162854.post2516604483247034588..comments2024-03-08T20:43:47.037-08:00Comments on Happy Thoughts Travel Fast (HTTF): California Girls and MetaphorsSoph Laughhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16588609258171352719noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-706019632027162854.post-1756894917553075652013-12-12T07:25:18.174-08:002013-12-12T07:25:18.174-08:00Quoting Joseph Campbell:
So I replied with my def...Quoting Joseph Campbell:<br /><br /><i>So I replied with my definition of myth. “No, myth is not a lie. A whole mythology is an organization of symbolic images and narratives, metaphorical of the possibilities of human experience and the fulfillment of a given culture at a given time.”<br /><br />“It’s a lie,” he countered.<br /><br />“It’s a metaphor.”<br /><br />‘It’s a lie.”<br /><br />This went on for about twenty minutes. Around four or five minutes before the end of the program, I realized that this interviewer did not really know what a metaphor was. I decided to treat him as he was treating me.<br /><br />“No,” I said, “I tell you it’s metaphorical. You give me an example of a metaphor.”<br /><br />He replied, “You give me an example.”<br /><br />I resisted, “No, I’m asking the question this time.” I had not taught school for thirty years for nothing. “And I want you to give me an example of a metaphor.”<br /><br />The interviewer was utterly baffled and even went so far as to say, “Let’s get in touch with some school teacher.” Finally, with something like a minute and a half to go, he rose to the occasion and said, “I’ll try. My friend John runs very fast. People say he runs like a deer. There’s a metaphor.”<br /><br />As the last seconds of the interview ticked off, I replied, “That is not the metaphor. The metaphor is: John is a deer.”<br /><br />He shot back, “That’s a lie.”<br /><br />“No,” I said, “That is a metaphor.”<br /><br />And the show ended. What does that incident suggest about our common understanding of metaphor?</i><br /><br />http://fork.cc/1hOU4nWBob Bruhinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10548002823210189228noreply@blogger.com