A socio-cultural history of the machine metaphor

Abstract

In Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blow-up, a scene of affection, after enlarging the negatives, transforms into a scene of an attempted or an actual murder. It seems a good image to characterize the change of the initial view of conceptual metaphor from a more precise perspective. The conceptual metaphor theory emerged with the claim that primary metaphors, such as Categories Are Containers, More Is Up, Affection Is Warmth, and even Time Is Money, were determined by the fundamental constants of our perceptual experience; hence, they could not change or evolve, and had no history. Later, however, plenty of studies have provided strong evidence that such metaphors, being much more complicated structures, essentially rest on the cultural-historical ground. The article can be considered as a step in this direction. It addresses the machine metaphor as a cultural-historical phenomenon examining its development from Antiquity to Early Modernity. The author reveals that conceptual machine metaphor appears in the Middle Ages, long before Newton and the Industrial Revolution, in the wake of the transformation of basic elements of the cultural model from Antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Teachability of Figurative Language: Teachers’ Perceptions of the Role of Metaphor in English Language Teaching in Chile

“…The first theme, Metaphor in language and culture vividly captures teachers' perceptions of the interplay between metaphor and its role, significance, and position in language and culture. Unlike the traditional views on metaphor, contemporary metaphor research acknowledges their complex conceptual structure and their reliance on cultural-historical activity (Glebkin, 2013). The level of unanimity amongst teachers on the intricate relationship between (metaphorical) language and culture was evident in their responses.…”

Metaphorical translation strategies of the white paper "China's Green Development in the New Era"

“…The machine metaphor expresses the importance of efficiency, collaboration, and automation by comparing the target domain to a part or function of a machine (Glebkin, 2013). Notably, examples [9]a, [9]b, [9]c, and [9]d all employ machine metaphors, likening the "长江 (Yangtze River)" and "新兴技术 (emerging technology)" to a "重要支撑 (powerhouse or prop)" and a "绿色发展 (green development)" to a "新引擎 (new driver)", while equating "战略性新兴产业 (strategic emerging industries)" to a "重 要引擎 (key driver)", highlighting their importance to the respective subjects.…”