Time conceptualization in everyday and poetic discourse: From metaphor and beyond

1. Time conceptualization in everyday and poetic discourse: From metaphor and beyond Dr. Anna Piata apiata@enl.uoa.gr 1st Symposium on figurative thought and language Thessaloniki, 25-26 April 2014

2. Time conceptualization in cognitive linguistics • Time is metaphorically structured in terms of space and motion • This is evidenced in everyday metaphorical expressions of time across languages, including Modern Greek e.g., πέρασεχρόνιασεφυλακές‘he passed (many) years injail’ • The Ego moving metaphor of time e.g., όσοπερνάειοχρόνοςπλησιάζουμετον στόχο‘as time goes by we get closer to the target’ • The Time moving metaphor • A metaphorical mapping between time and space/ motion • Space/ motion is the source domain and time is the target domain • Such conceptual mappings constitute so-called conceptual metaphors • Conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980, 1999, Lakoff 1993)

3. From conceptual metaphors to conceptual blends • More recently, the conceptualization of time has been recast in terms of Conceptual integration, or blending, theory (Fauconnier & Turner 2002, 2008) • Unlike conceptual metaphors, conceptual blends arise from integrating conceptual elements from both input spaces • Thus, inputs are selectively projected onto the blended space • The blended space may contain emergent structure • Conceptual structure not present in either of the inputs • All the spaces constitute a conceptual integration network • Along these lines, it has been suggested that the conceptual structure of time arises in a generalized conceptual integration network of time • An entrenched blend that is evidenced in everyday linguistic expressions

4. The generalized conceptual integration network of time • The generalized conceptual integration network of time emerges from two input spaces: • A blend of events and experienced motion (e.g., The lecture went by quickly; cf. the Event structure metaphor) • Varied among experiencers • Subjective time • Clock time, based on solar time and measured by time telling devices • Uniform among experiencers • Social time • The generalized conceptual integration network of time contains conceptual elements from both time and space/ motion • In this way, it accounts for the fact that time is not entirely understood in terms of space/ motion but has conceptual structure of its own (e.g., time goes away) • Also, it explains construals of subjective time (e.g., time went by slowly/ quickly during the lecture) • Protracted and compressed time (see Flaherty 1999)

6. Aims of the study • To explore how time is conceptualized in poetic discourse; • To investigate how non-conventional construals of time relate to conventional ones (i.e., everyday metaphors of time) and also to each other; • To propose an empirically grounded and theoretically informed account of time conceptualization; • To tackle the relationship between the two main theories of metaphor in cognitive linguistics • Conceptual metaphor theory vs. Conceptual integration theory

7. The corpus of Modern Greek poetry • The corpus of MG poetry that was constructed for the needs of this study is: • small; approximately 8,000 words • specialized; a specific genre (poetry) • monolingual; MG (no translations) • synchronic • Sources of data • on-line literary anthologies; Center of Neo-Hellenic studies, National Book Centre of Greece, Cultural Thesaurus of the Greek Language, etc. • literary e-journals; www.poiein.gr, www.poema.gr, www.poeticanet.com, etc. • The findings of the data collection belong to the literary production of the 20th century, especially to post-war poetry, with a preference for the work of specific poets

8. Linguistic expressions of time in the corpus of MG poetry

9. Creative metaphors of time • Non-entrenched metaphorical construals of time that are grounded in the conceptual structure of time (i.e., time conceptualized in terms of motion) • The Ego moving metaphor • The Time moving metaphor • Base level of figurative creativity • Time is construed in motional terms but in non-conventional ways • Motional frames not conventionally associated with time or related to time in non-conventional ways • Mechanisms of figurative creativity (Lakoff & Turner 1989) • Extension, elaboration, questioning, composition • Such metaphors call for a CIT analysis that refines and complements CMT • They elaborate conventional metaphors but give rise to novel meanings

10. The Ego moving metaphor (1) Όσοιστέκοντανκάποτεστιςόχθεςφύγανε. Άλλοιέρχονται, θαφύγουνκιαυτοί,γιατηθάλασσατηςλησμονιάς. Ταξιδιώτεςείμαστεόλοιτουάπειρουχρόνου.Ταξιδιώτεςγιαλιμάνια-φαντάσματα. [G. Pappas] ‘We are all travellers in infinite time. Travellers to ghost-harbours.’ • The conventional metaphor ταξίδι/ ταξιδεύω στον χρόνο ‘travelling in time’ is elaborated • The experiencer of time is fulfilled in an unusual, creative way as a traveller • Here travelling in time refers to infinite time • Also, it concerns a particular kind of journey, namely a journey along a river as suggested by όχθες‘banks’and λιμάνια-φαντάσματα‘ghost-harbours’

12. The Time moving metaphor (2) Τι μένει τώρα να πούμε, τι μένει να κάνουμε. Σ’ αυτά τα άθλια σπίτιαπου κυλάμε τις μέρες μας.Ξανα-/ ζώντας ‘we roll our days’ τοναυάγιοτηςφωτιάς. Ακούγοντας, πάλι, στιςπλάκες ταπροδομένατηςβήματα. Μέρεςκαινύχτες/ αγρύπνιαςκαιμοναξιάς. [Th. Kostavaras] • Κυλάω‘to flow/ to roll’ is conventionally associated with time but in the intransitive construction that has the meaning of flowing, e.g. οιμέρεςκυλούσανμονότονα‘the days were flowing monotonously’ • Here it is creatively used in a transitive construction that evokes a different meaning, that of rolling • Days are therefore construed as being caused to move • The passage of time is not easy, regular and natural but rather strenuous, requiring effort on the part of the agent/experiencer

14. Highly creative metaphors of time • Non-entrenched, metaphorical but non-motional construals of time • The personification of time • Non-motional metaphors of time • High level of figurative creativity • Time is construed in terms of conventionally incompatible frames (i.e., non-motional) • Such metaphors call for a CIT analysis • Our folk understanding of time is also involved • They may involve both imagistic and conceptual structure

15. The personification of time (3) ΆκουσεολόγοςείναιτωνστερνώνηφρόνησηΚιοχρόνοςγλύπτηςτωνανθρώπωνπαράφοροςΚιοήλιοςστέκεταιαπόπάνωτουθηρίοελπίδας[O. Elytis] ‘time is an uncontrollable sculptor of humans while the sun stands over him like a beast of hope’ • In (3) time is construed as a sculptor (γλύπτης) • An instance of personification • It prompts for an understanding of time as transforming humans through its passage in a way that they can’t control or impede • The basic metaphor time is a changer (Lakoff & Turner 1989: 86) is combined with commonplace knowledge about sculpting • Conceptual structure from both domains is involved (cf. Conceptual metaphor theory)

17. Non-motional metaphors of time (4) Τουμέλλοντοςοιμέρεςστέκοντ’ εμπροστάμας Σαμιασειράκεράκιααναμμένα – χρυσά, ζεστά, καιζωηράκεράκια. ‘Days to come stand in front of us/ like a row of lighted candles— golden, warm, and vivid candles’ Οιπερασμένεςμέρεςπίσωμένουν, μιαθλιβερήγραμμήκεριώνσβησμένων· ταπιοκοντάβγάζουνκαπνόνακόμη, κρύακεριά, λιωμένα, καικυρτά. ‘Days gone by fall behind us,/ a gloomy line of snuffed-out candles; the nearest are smoking still,/ cold, melted, and bent.’ (…) Δενθέλωναγυρίσωναμηδιωκαιφρίξω τιγρήγοραπουησκοτεινήγραμμήμακραίνει, τιγρήγοραπουτασβυστάκεριάπληθαίνουν. [C. Cavafy] ‘how quickly that dark line gets longer, how quickly the snuffed-out candles proliferate.’

18. Non-motional metaphors of time • Future years are construed as lit candles in front of the poet whereas past years as blown out candles behind him with the latter proliferating quickly (see also PagánCánovas & Jensen 2013) • A construal of temporal compression • The end of life is about to come soon for the poet • Conceptual structure about candles is combined with conceptual structure about years to yield a novel conceptualization of time • The poet is emotionally involved in experiencing the passage of time • Sorrow at the view of blown out candles and nostalgia for their formerly shining light as well as fear for the rapid extinction of the candles still lit • Time felt as passing more quickly after middle age and fear for the upcoming end

20. Non-metaphorical expressions of time • Non-entrenched, non-metaphorical, non-motional construals of time where an interval is construed in terms of another interval of a shorter or longer duration • Non-metaphorical construals of compressed time • Non-metaphorical construals of protracted time • Maximum degree of creativity in the conceptualization of time • Beyond metaphorical creativity • Such construals make a case for CIT • They go beyond metaphor • Thus, they challenge what is generally assumed in cognitive linguistics

21. Non-metaphorical construals of compressed time (5) Σαντο ’φερανοιΧριστιανοίνατοκρεμάσουν τοδεκαεφτάχρονώαθώοπαιδί‘the 17-year old poor boy’ ημάνατου (…)πότεούρλιαζε, καικραύγαζεσαλύκος, σαθηρίο καιπότεεξαντλημένηημάρτυσσαμοιρολογούσε(…) «Δεκαφτάμέρεςμοναχά», μοιρολογούσε, «δεκαφτάμέρεςμοναχάσεχάρηκαπαιδίμου». [C. Cavafy] “Only seventeen days”, she mourned, “I’ve enjoyed you for only seventeen years, my boy” • A mother mourning the death of her 17-year old son construes the duration of his life in subjective terms • 17 years are compressed into 17 days • Hyperbole • The mother’s grief cues to a strong affective grounding of the construal

23. Non-metaphorical construals of protracted time (6)Χωρίςπικρία, χωρίςελπίδα, χωρίςφόβο στημέσητουταξιδιού,/ τριάνταχρόνιασκίζοντας τιςσάρκεςμουμ’ αλύπηταμαχαίριανασ’ εξευμενίσω, στραγγίζονταςμελύσσακαιτηντελευταία σταγόνατουαίματόςμουγιαναξεδιψάσεις, τριάνταχρόνια-αιώνες,κάθεμέρα ‘thirty years-centuries’ τηζωήμουκαταστρέφονταςγιαν’ αξιωθώ χαρούμενηεπιτέλουςνασεδω[A. Evaggelou] • A protracted construal of the duration of the couple’s relationship • 30 years construed as equal to the passage of centuries • Hyperbole • Protracted time here relates to the couple’s stormy relationship

25. Degrees of figurative creativity in the expression of time

26. Concluding remarks • Based on a corpus of MG poetry, the present study offers an empirically grounded analysis of time conceptualization in poetic discourse • In doing so, it revises the standard analysis of time conceptualization as solely metaphorical • At the same time, it proposes a categorization of non-conventional expressions of time on the basis of two criteria: • metaphorical structure • the type of the frame serving as input (motional) • The proposed categorization of degrees of creativity can serve as a testable hypothesis for the psycholinguistic investigation of figurative creativity

27. Concluding remarks In theoretical terms, the proposed analysis puts forward a unified account of time conceptualization in terms of Conceptual integration theory At the same time, it offers an ideal testing frame for two prominent theories in cognitive linguistics, namely Conceptual metaphor theory and Conceptual integration theory It suggests that the two theories provide complementary insights in the sense that CIT complements and refines CMT Finally, a more general conclusion to be drawn is that research on conceptualization can benefit a lot from combining cognitive linguistics with the study of literature

28. References Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2002). The Way we Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books. Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2008). “Rethinking Metaphor”. In Gibbs, R. W. (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 53-66. Flaherty, M. (1999). A Watched Pot. New York: New York University Press. Lakoff, G. (1993). “The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor.” In Metaphor and Thought, edited by Andrew Ortony. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we Live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the Flesh. New York: Basic Books. Lakoff, G. & Turner, M. (1989). More Than Cool Reason. A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago: Chicago University Press. PagánCánovas, C. & Jensen, M. (2013). “Anchoring Time-Space Mappings and their Emotions: The Timeline Blend in Poetic Metaphors”. In Language and Literature 22 (1): 45-59.

29. Thank you!