Publications

Publication details [#4350]

Publication type
Article in book  
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Amsterdam: John Benjamins

Abstract

My goal is to argue that 'the relation of metaphor to cultural models varies, and that no simple statement about its priority, centrality, or epiphenomenality will suffice'. To this end, I would like to draw attention to one of the relationships between a metaphorical model and non-metaphorical cultural models, that of congruence. The cross-domain mapping of a conceptual metaphor and the cross-domain mapping that might be observable in other symbolic resources available to members of a culture may be congruous in that they may exhibit parallelism, harmony, or appropriateness - a correspondingness in character. Congruence across mappings will be illustrated through the specific example of lust and sex in Chagga, a Bantu language of Tanzania. Chagga metaphors for lust and sex will be shown to be congruous with non-linguistic symbols and rituals of sexual coming of age. The expanses of congruence, however, mask points of incongruence: there is some measure of discord if the fine details of mappings are taken into account. (Michele Emanatian)