Chapter 5
Urban metaphors
Conceptual and literary depictions of cities in the Bible
Cities in the biblical text are not mere places, but often also characters in a relationship with both human beings and the divine character. Critical-spatial theory has offered a valuable framework to connect these two roles of the city, introducing a functionally informed understanding of space rather than one that is either material or symbolic (Lefebvre 1974; Soja 1996). This chapter builds upon this research, whilst proposing a stylistic component to the framework in order to assess the nature of the textual city fully. Relying on metaphor theory (Lakoff and Johnson 1980 [2003]; Kövecses 2010) and framing theory (Entman 1993; Fillmore 1975), the chapter shows how city space is construed in the biblical text. This space tends to rely on a handful of frequently used conceptual metaphors, such as the city is a container and the city is a woman, and less commonly used images, such as the city is an object. Only in exceptional cases does the text turn to novel metaphors that differ significantly from the well-established city imagery. The actual cityscape in the text is the result of a skillful tailoring of images into a specific context.
Article outline
- 1.Biblical cities
- 2.From critical spatiality to metaphor
- 2.1Cities and critical-spatial theory
- 2.2Cities, framing, and metaphor theory
- 2.2.1Conceptual and literary metaphors
- 2.2.2Urban metaphors: Metaphors for the city or in the city
- 2.2.3The target domain “city”
- 3.Developing a stylistic approach to the production of city space
- 3.1Primary conceptual metaphors
- 3.1.1
the city is a woman
- 3.1.2
the city is a container
- 3.2Other conceptual metaphors
- 3.2.1
the city is an animal
- 3.2.2
the city is a plant
- 3.2.3
The city is an object
- 3.3Novel (literary) metaphors
- 3.3.1The city is a threshing floor
- 3.3.2The city is a line on god’s palm
- 3.3.3The city is a light
- 4.Conclusion
-
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