Symbolism in Flux: The Conceptual Metaphor of "World Liquescence" Across Media, Genres and Realities

Abstract

“Symbolism in Flux: the Metaphor of World Liquescence across Media, Genre and Realities” examines cultural implications of conceptual metaphor, in this case the metaphor of liquescence of the human emotional domain. The central question discussed in my paper is how poetics of water is metaphorically present in visual discourses of boundary transgression and blending, both static and dynamic, namely painting and film of the Russian Symbolist period. In my analysis of the painterly and cinematic texts selected, I apply concepts from cognitive linguistics, specifically Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Conceptual Blending Theory that see the roots of the human proclivity for metaphor in somatic embodied experiences. They provide tools and terms useful for theorizing discourses that implement the “water principle” as their modus operandi in approaching various metaphysical issues. They are particularly instrumental within the specific historical-cultural context of Russian Symbolism with its close attention to stirrings of the soul which in many cases are expressed via the “water metaphor.” I look at representations of the conceptual blend fusing human and water ontologies in these “Silver Age” texts: two paintings by V. Borisov-Musatov and two scenes from a film by E. Bauer. The innovative aspect of my work is found in my applying it to interacting art forms, which supports the central stance of Conceptual Metaphor Theory: that metaphor is not just a figure of language, but first and foremost, a figure of thought.