Metaphor through the lens of linguosynergetics (Exemplified by the concept “DEATH” in Terry Pratchett’s discourse)

Abstract

The article presents a linguosynergetic approach to the study of metaphors. Having an inherent interdisciplinary character synergetics opens new perspectives for the research of various linguistic phenomena. The synergetic methodology is applied to the object of the current study -a metaphor. The metaphorization is not regarded as a unidirectional linear projection of meanings; it is a synergetic interaction of two or more input domains. The authors observe a non-linear interaction of order parameters (meanings and connotations that characterize the concepts of source and target domains). That interaction results in the formation of a new conceptual unit that has its own identity -a completely new set of meanings. The authors apply the synergetic methodology to study metaphors with the target-domain "death" in the literary discourse by Terry Pratchett. It is worth mentioning that at the level of discourse the concept "death" unfolds along the tree-like trajectory, which explicated a logical, gradual meaning cohesion and the dual nature of the concept. In the beginning, the death is primarily associated with the conventional personification of death -Grim Reaper. Gradually the image of Grim Reaper transforms into the image of a positive character Kind Reaper who has to perform his duty.