Abstract
M.A.
Old age is a universal experience. Poets in general and Afrikaans poets in
particular use imagination and metaphor to understand and make sense of the
experience of old age and nearing death. To understand one domain of
experience in terms of another we need metaphor that unites reason and
imagination.
Language is based on cognition. According to cognitive semantics we mentally
group together similar, but disparate, entities and transformations of image
schemas. A conceptual domain consists basically of interrelated entities
emanating from universal experiences.
The purpose of this study is to give an account of various (mainly cognitive)
theories on metaphor and to use the cognitive approach to disclose the main
conceptual domains which act as source domains and are projected onto the
target domain. The resulting metaphors describe the experience of old age and
its physical and psychological infirmities and decay.
By analysing various examples of metaphor it is argued that image schemas are
different patterns of recurring bodily experiences that emerge from our
perceptual understanding of actions and events in the world. The examples
illustrate that image schemas/domains do not exist as single entities, but are
often linked together to form relationships through different image schemata
transformations. The poet as abstract author, but also the reader, creatively and
imaginatively recognize a schema in a new situation and contrive metaphorical
connections between various conceptual structures. Thus a metaphorical
expression links two or more domains of experience.
Metaphor is the means by which we project structure across categories to
establish new connections. Structure from two or more input mental spaces is
projected onto a separate "blended" space, which inherits partial structure from
the inputs, and has emergent structure of its own. It is argued that creativity
shows rationality and structure.
In metaphorical projection, blending from different conceptual domains plays an
important role in the process of creating meaning. The examples in this study
reveal that metaphors are a reflection of the ecological, cultural and ideological
background of the language community.
Metaphors based on image schemata for path, time, cycle, container, balance
and verticality are discussed by means of examples from the poetry of selected
Afrikaans poets. Special attention is given to the works of poets who are
themselves experiencing old age.
This study arrives at the conclusion that language is inextricably entrenched in
our cognitive make-up, as illustrated by the various metaphors conveying the
experience of old age. The examples reveal that the path-, cycle- and time
domains are the more important source domains for the old age metaphors. The
metaphors not only describe the authors' emotions on experiencing old age, but
also create emotions in the reader.