Publications

Publication details [#7547]

MacArthur, Fiona. 2004. Embodied figures of speech: Problem-solving in 'Alice's Dream of Wonderland'. Folklore Studies 26 (2) : 51–62. 12 pp.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from the point of view of how children process and interpret the metaphors, similes, and idioms used in it. The author analyzes some examples such as 'grin like a Cheshire cat', 'mad as a March hare', and 'mock turtle soup'. What we find at the basis of these figurative expressions, which in fact relate to certain characters created by Alice in her dreams, are the metaphorical correspondences between men and animals. In fact, she tries to make sense of them by creating her own vision of them. As the author notes, these conventional metaphors turn out to be novel or unconventional for the child. Finally, the author presents her case in three different sections which correspond to the three aspects that the child deals with when facing conventional metaphors and similes: their function in discourse, their evaluative stance, and the similarities existing between men and animals (which in turn correspond to the source and the target of the metaphor). (Elena Ruiz Gil and Francisco Ruiz de Mendoza)