Metaphors on “Literature” by teachers-to-be graduates of Turkish language and literature departments

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing metaphors on the concept of “literature” by graduates of Turkish Language and Literature Departments. Metaphor, the use of a word instead of another, as a language act is one of the basic concepts of literature. In this study, on the use of metaphors by teachers-to-be, qualitative research method has been applied. Sampling is made up of 77 teachers-to-be who attend to Başkent University, Master's Program Without a Thesis on Secondary Education Department. The participants, having been asked to complete the open ended expression: “literature is similar to….. because……”, were informed that they could use more than one metaphor. Results indicate that metaphors used to define “literature” are of positive content; that some features of the concept are highligted; and that there may be gender differences in the choice of metaphors.