A Dog Pissing at the Edge of a Path: Animal Metaphors in an Eastern Indonesian Society - Couverture souple

Forth, Gregory

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 077355923X ISBN 13 : 9780773559233

Editeur : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019

Synopsis

The Nage people of the eastern Indonesian island of Flores refer to someone who begins something but is regularly distracted by other matters as 'a dog peeing at the edge of a path.' In this first comprehensive study of animal metaphors in a non-Western society, Gregory Forth focuses on how the Nage understand metaphor and use their knowledge of animals to shape specific expressions. Based on extensive field research, this book explores the meaning and use of over 560 animal metaphors employed by the Nage. Investigating how closely their indigenous concept of pata pele corresponds to the Greek-derived English concept of metaphor, Forth demonstrates that the Nage people understand these figures of speech in the same way as Westerners - namely as conventional ways of speaking about people and objects, not expressions of an essential identity between their animal vehicles and human referents. Theoretically engaging with anthropology's recent ontological turn, the book considers whether metaphors reveal significant differences in conceptions of human-animal relations, the human-animal contrast, and human understanding of other humans in different parts of the world. An incredible catalogue of animal-based linguistic art and Nage verbal conventions, this book illuminates essential features of metaphorical thought everywhere.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Gregory Forth is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and professor of anthropology at the University of Alberta.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Date d'édition: 2019
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 077355923X
• ISBN 13: 9780773559233
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 408
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible