Abstract
Extended mixed metaphors, which wind through dozens of words, are typical of Gnesin's style. They are discussed here against the background of five stories by leading Modern Hebrew writers who preceded Gnesin and with whose work he was thoroughly acquainted: Abramovitsh, Fayerberg, Ferditshevski, and Pershadski. It is shown here that they too used extended metaphors, some of which are of considerable length (especially in the story by Abramovitsh, who indulged in hyperbolic development of the Homeric simile in the manner of Gogol). Whereas these four other writers used extended metaphors which were coherent situationally or logically (so that in spite of their length, they can still be easily understood), Gnesin tended to construct a changeable vehicle without a homogeneous visual framework and thus seemed to jump incoherently from one image to another. As his work progressed, this phenomenon became increasingly dominant, but it is not arbitrary since Genesin followed principles reflecting the flow of unconscious psychological processes rather than try to represent reality or the logical thought structure of an omniscient narrator. These principles may be outlined as follows: (1) the unity (whether external or psychological) of an implied situation; (2) metaphoric relations between the components of an extended metaphor; and (3) linguistic cohesion between the components of the extended metaphor. This article examines the circumstances which led him to write ballads. Also discussed are his translations-adaptations of Goethe's Der Fischer and Der Schatzgröber.
Translated title of the contribution | The Semantic Structure of the Extended Metaphor in Uri-Nisan Gnesin's Prose Fiction |
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Original language | Hebrew |
Pages (from-to) | 159-191 |
Number of pages | 33 |
Journal | דפים למחקר בספרות |
Volume | 2 |
State | Published - 1985 |