According to Derrida, the text "is a differential network, a fabric of
traces referring endlessly to something other than itself, to other differential
traces. Thus, the text overruns all the limits assigned to it so far" (Derrida1979:
84). Traditional linear texts have created in the reader an expectation
of structural stability as an inherent feature of the physical object text.
This assumption is mirrored in spatial metaphors of textuality which create
an imaginary textual space of its own.
Spatial metaphors of textuality and hypertextuality
produce a textual space which guides the reader's orientation in the
process of reading. Following Lakoff and Johnson
(1980: 3), metaphor is a basic cognitive principle of organization, both
of language and of thinking: "metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not
just in language, but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system,
in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical
in nature." Metaphor is not just a figure of speech and a linguistic phenomenon,
but includes a cognitivedimension. The investigation of metaphor under
this conceptual aspect leads to metaphorical systems which show that metaphor
is not an arbitrary and singular phenomenon, but a means to express our
experience and action.
Cognitive experience, cultural and social conventions,
provide the framework for the development of cognitive concepts. The importance
of space is mirrored in the broad area of spatial metaphors we use, the
metaphorical subsystem "space", which Lakoff and Johnson call "orientational
metaphors". This metaphoric subsystemhas its origin in our everyday experience
in space, e.g., our upright posture or movement and orientation in space.
Conceptual abstraction from our perception
governs the construction of spatial concepts which are applied as metaphorical
extensions to other fields of experience.
see also ErikaSeidel
on "Metaphor"
contents
reference