Fish

Let's imagine that fish are words or symbols; they swim in an ocean of cultural context.
The ocean is unimaginably vast, wide and deep, and so is our language.
Philosophers are the fisherman who catch the fish, and writers are the chefs who prepare it for consumption.
We are the hungry readers.

Writer Ursula K. Leguin used a similar metaphor when she said this:

- MORE "Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it is like anything else. What is the other text, the original? I have no answer. I suppose it is the source, the deep sea where ideas swim, and one catches them in nets of words and swings them shining into the boat ... where in this metaphor they die and get canned and eaten in sandwiches."

Why are metaphors useful?

It's a simple question with a complex answer. Using language to explain language, thinking about thinking, and deciding how you know what you know: these are all daunting tasks, and metaphors can help. They are tools which help us grasp something beyond that which may be immediately apparent.

During our class discussion, the introduction of the topic of metaphor was met with an initial indifference. Maybe that's because it's easy to classify metaphors with all the other parts of speech we were taught in grammar school- you know, the gerunds, dangling participles, and adverbs. But this dismissal of metaphor ignores their significance.

George C. Lakoff, cultural linguist at UC Berkeley, has devoted much of his career to studying the big, pervasive metaphors of the English language, which he believes are intimately connected to our culture and to the way we think and communicate. An example of one of these "big" metaphors is the one we discussed in class, which compares time to money.

Time is money

Spending time

Saving time

Worth my while

Living on borrowed time

Investing time

Wasting my time

Running out of time

Budget your time

This metaphor has its roots in the industrial revolution, and gained strength in our capitalist society. This is NOT a necessary way to conceptualize time; not all cultures and languages use this metaphor.

During class discussion, a student questioned whether there are metaphors like this which are not culturally specific, and which seem to be common to human beings as a whole. Lakoff points out that there is at least one, which associates "up" with good, and "down" with bad. He says that the origin of this metaphor is very simple, and has existed since language was formed: when someone is sick, or dying, they lay down. When they are healthy, they can stand up. 

 "The learner must be led always from familiar objects toward the unfamiliar; guided along as it were, a chain of flowers into the mysteries of life."- Charles Wilson Peale

This quote introduced the film which we discussed during the salad course. Peale may not be describing metaphors specifically, but he may as well be. He IS describing how we learn, however, and it is not hard to realize how important metaphors can be for learning. They may even be necessary.

As we planned our in-class presentation, discussion, and finally this very project, it was impossible to make any progress without the use of metaphor. We began with the video clip showing the cordyceps fungus which attacks and kills the Africa sink ant. This is where the film got its name, and it immediately reminded us of Burroughs, who described language as a virus which inhabits and infects us. We discussed possible metaphors for this virus:

Is it a good metaphor for describing the progress of philosophical thinking?

Does it help describe the spread of language or knowledge?

Does it describe the influence that certain artists have over contemporary and future art?

Some members of the class had a hard time getting past the idea that fungus is "yucky" and couldn't seem to use it as a metaphorical device, because of all the negative connotations. This indicates that metaphors have to be carefully chosen, especially in our role as artists, because they can present roadblocks as well as provide pathways. If our intent as an artist is to communicate, we must consider all aspects of the visual "language" we use and how it will be perceived by our audience.

We decided to use a metaphor for the structure of this project, comparing food to knowledge.Think about it: 

knowledge can satisfy

hunger for knowledge

thirst for knowledge

knowledge can poison

knowledge can be sweet or bitter

Religion also uses food as metaphor for knowledge; for example, the apple symbolizes carnal knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

Some people regard food as a basic, biological need, necessary for survival. Some people don't care at all what kind of food they eat, and consume junk food or fast food every day. Others are wholesome, and eat food that is nutritious and healthy. Others still are vegetarians, and care as much about where their food comes from as how it tastes. And then there's the gourmands, who want only the best of the best. 

For all these different types of eaters, there are just as many types of thinkers, who regard knowledge with as much (or as little) discretion.

"The world is emblematic. Parts of speech are metaphors, because the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind." -Ralph Waldo Emerson Translation is entirely mysterious. Increasingly I have felt that the art of writing is itself translating, or more like translating than it i...