Thinking in Metaphors: Figurative Language and Ideas on the Mind

Once you start looking for them, metaphors seem to appear everywhere, even in the most pedestrian places, and the line between metaphoric and non-metaphoric language becomes increasingly difficult to draw. Indeed, many theorists deny this distinction altogether, despite the rather prevalent view that metaphor is some kind of tricksy use of language most appropriate to literary contexts, especially poetry. But recent research has raised the possibility that we use metaphors not only to express ourselves in language, but also to formulate ideas: we think in metaphors. Some scholars continue to interpret metaphor primarily as a feature of language, while others now pursue it as a feature of thought. The relevance of theories of knowledge, the interpretation of discourse, and the importance of context have produced a now very complicated and variable set of considerations for this subject, which continues to attract a lot of interest and debate

A Renaissance reader's English annotations to Thynne's 1532 edition of Chaucer's Works

This article introduces a heavily annotated copy of the first collected edition of Chaucer's Works, published by William Thynne in 1532 (Beinecke Library, Osborn fpa 5). Over 1100 annotations, in English, record one near-contemporary but anonymous reader's engagement with the content and style of texts in this edition. The marginal comments demonstrate this annotator's predilection for proverbial material and figurative language, perhaps as a first step in transferring excerpts to a commonplace book or other place of record. This Renaissance reader evidently understood Chaucer's language, so does not provide glosses to the existing diction, but reflects individual linguistic preferences in summarising and recasting the texts in the marginal annotations, at times commenting on Chaucer's imagery or turn of phrase. This study indicates the range and type of annotation in this unique book, and suggests some implications for our knowledge of the reception of Chaucer in the sixteenth century.14 page(s

Articulate contact in "Juliana"

Antonina Harbus takes up the theme of effective speaking by examining the processes by which thoughts determine speech and speech determines action in "Juliana".18 page(s

Book review : "Pride and Prodigies"

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Book review : "The Culture of Translation in Anglo-Saxon England"

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Old English swefn and Genesis B line 720

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Book review : "Women of the Gilte Legende: A Selection of Middle English Saints' Lives"

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Book review : "The Transmission of Old English Poetry"

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The Presentation of native saints and their miracles in the Old English translation of Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica"

Harbus argues that the Old English translator of Bede's "Ecclesiastical History" adapts his source text to his own culturally-specific concerns, an adaptation that is particularly noticeable in his presentation of Bede's accounts of native saints and their miracles.20 page(s