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“Truth is like a vast tree”: Metaphor use in Gandhi’s autobiographical narration.
Neary, Clara
Neary, Clara
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2017-07-06
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Abstract
This article focuses on Gandhi’s use of Biblical metaphor in the English translation of his autobiography “The Story of My Experiments with Truth” (1940). The aim of the analysis is to show how Gandhi appropriated Christian ideology to his own life story when presenting it to an English-speaking audience. Given that metaphor use is “seldom neutral” (Semino, 2008, p. 32), underlying conceptual mappings can be revealing, particularly when the same conceptual frame is employed systematically across a text or discourse situation. Analysis of the English translation reveals a use of Biblical metaphor in the English translation which may constitute a deliberate appropriation of Christian ideology. This article suggests potential motivations for this appropriation, linking the text’s metaphor use to Gandhi’s desire to reform Hinduism and intention to counter the rising tide of Hindu-Christian conversion that threatened the success of his campaign for Indian political and spiritual independence.
Keywords: conceptual metaphor theory, Gandhi, “The Story of My Experiments with Truth”
Citation
Neary, C. (2017). “Truth is like a vast tree”: Metaphor use in Gandhi’s autobiographical narration. Metaphor and the Social World, 7(1), 103 –121. DOI: 10.1075/msw.7.1.07nea
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John Benjamins Publishing
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Metaphor and the Social World
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DOI
10.1075/msw.7.1.07nea
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Article
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en
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This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in Metaphor and the Social World. To access the final edited and published work see http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/msw.7.1.07nea. This item is under copyright and the publisher should be contacted for permission to re-use or reprint the material in any form.
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2210-4070
EISSN
2210-4097