ID NUMBER: 2



Grammatical Imaginations.
A Historical Approach to Linguistic and Pictorial Metaphor




















Irene Mittelberg


Graduate Student in Linguistics
Cornell University



Postal address:
412 Oak Ave
Ithaca, N.Y.  14850
USA

e-mail:
im33@cornell.edu

phone:
1 - 607-272-7480






Grammatical Imaginations. A Historical Approach to Linguistic and Pictorial=
 Metaphor



This paper is based on results of an interdisciplinary study investigating=
 the interrelation between materialized imaginations of the concept GRAMMAR=
 and their linguistic counterparts. The perspective chosen is a historical=
 one. It takes into account the historical dimension of the media that have=
 served, already for centuries, to render abstract concepts graspable:=
 figurative language, visual images, and the printed page. The latter is=
 particularly important in its function of uniting both means of expression=
 and creating specific conditions of discourse.  

Grammar is an elaborate symbolic system. It is part of the mentally=
 constructed and imperceptible entities that we treat in our thinking and=
 speech as objects with certain properties. This implies that we have a=
 certain mental image of grammar as well as an imaginative vocabulary to=
 seize its structure and mechanisms. Grammatical terms such as 'construction=
 of a sentence', 'word classes', or 'hierarchical relations' take in our=
 imagination a plasticity that seems to be nourished by different=
 experiential domains. The central question here is how these mental images=
 have been established in the collective memory of speakers, and how they=
 relate to the metaphorical language and pictorial representations of=
 grammar which have remained prominent throughout its academic history.

If we assume that linguistic expressions and visual images are both=
 instruments and products of human conceptualization, it seems plausible=
 that they can illuminate as well as complement each other. Considering, for=
 instance, the fact that metaphors, personifications and allegories can take=
 form through linguistic and pictorial means of expression, it seems=
 worthwhile investigating not only linguistic, but also visual evidence.  To=
 this end, metaphors found in grammatical vocabulary were compared with=
 educational and mnemonic illustrations. The collected materials witness a=
 high degree of creativity along with a strong explanatory power and a=
 pleasant way of instruction. The creativity of human thought becomes=
 obvious in the light of these product of cultural mediation.

In order to account for the idiosyncratic principles of the media involved,=
 I chose an approach that combines linguistic and art-historical=
 perspectives. I applied the cognitive oriented metaphor theory developed by=
 George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980, 1987) and Erwin Panofsky's=
 Iconography and Iconology to images of grammar.

Lakoff and Johnson work with linguistic material deriving the underlying=
 metaphorical processes. They place the bodily, the sensorial perception in=
 the center of their theory and claim that embodied image-schemas=
 conceptualize our experience at a non-propositional level. This study is=
 based on the belief that these image-schemas anticipate both linguistic and=
 pictorial expressions, and that our perceptual system and image-based=
 reasoning is grounded not only in the direct experience, but also in the=
 indirect mediated experience offered by visual media such as printed words=
 and pictures. With this in view, I established an iconography of grammar in=
 order to gain an insight into the history of this motif. Then, metaphorical=
 expressions we employ when talking about grammar were mapped onto the=
 visual metaphors found in those images. As a matter of fact, I could line=
 up figurative expressions as the ones given above with visual metaphors.

In my search for visual materials, the Index of Political Iconography at the=
 Warburg Haus in Hamburg was a valuable source. Most of the collected=
 woodcuts and etchings date from the 16th and 17th century and represent=
 creative efforts to visualize personifications, allegories as well as=
 memory buildings. Among these, the Tower of Grammar (Zurich, 1548) by=
 Heinrich Vogtherr the Elder was the main and most fruitful object of my=
 investigation. It displays a detailed image of grammar as discipline and as=
 complex system of categories and mechanism. In the form of a printed flyer,=
 this carefully crafted memory room represented a new vehicle for long=
 existing concepts. It is thus an example of how tightly linked cognition is=
 with the prominent media. By embedding this imagination of grammar in its=
 pragmatic and historical context and reconstructing its textual basis, the=
 specific conditions of its materialization became evident. It was also=
 found that complex hierarchical grammatical relations put too high demands=
 on the vernacular language, in this case German, as compared to Latin. One=
 consequence of this lack of adequate means of linguistic expression was=
 that parts of the Latin grammatical terminology was not translated into the=
 German language, but directly into a visual metaphor. Visual images proofed=
 to be bear a stronger explanatory power and, thus, were ahead of the=
 vernacular languages that first had to develop a normative system of=
 syntactic and semantic structures. The developing print medium called for=
 adjustments on both sides of the chain: the production and the perception=
 of texts and interwoven images. The results of this study show that=
 metaphors were a creative force in the development of both mental models=
 and representational media. 










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