Julie Sanders — History of Metaphor

In one sentence

Metaphor is the primary cognitive tool humans use to navigate the world, transforming abstract, invisible, or complex experiences into tangible, relatable images through the principle of resemblance.

Why read this (who it's for)

This discussion is for anyone who wants to understand why we speak and think the way we do. It moves beyond the "dictionary definition" of metaphor to reveal it as a psychological and spiritual necessity. You will learn to see metaphor not as a "poetic extra" but as the very scaffolding of human consciousness—the way we turn "the soul" into a "dungeon" or "time" into a "tyrant" to make the unthinkable thinkable.

The big idea

For a long time, metaphor was treated as a stylistic ornament—a way to "dress up" a plain truth. However, the experts argue that metaphor is actually the primary way we access truth. Because many human experiences (like love, time, or the internal self) are abstract and lack a physical "shape," we must borrow the shape of something else—a "likeness"—to grasp them.

The history of metaphor is a history of how we have tried to tame, categorize, and eventually recognize this power. From the oral traditions of Homer to the "shock" of the Metaphysical poets, and finally to the modern realization that language itself is inherently metaphorical, the conversation reveals that we do not just use metaphors; we live within them to make sense of our existence.

Key ideas

The Principle of Resemblance

• What it is — Metaphor is the substitution of one term for another based on a ground of "likeness" or "equivalence." It is not just saying one thing is another; it is saying that our feelings toward one thing are like the feelings we have toward another.
• Why it matters — If you accept this, you realize that metaphor is a tool for emotional and cognitive navigation. When you call someone a "swine," you aren't describing their biology; you are mapping your feelings onto a culturally understood category of "despised animal."
• In the book — Steve Connor explains that metaphor represents the "primary act of mind" of seeing things that seem like each other.

The Epic Simile and Orality

• What it is — Developed by Homer, the "epic simile" is an extended metaphor that builds an image over several lines to help a listener emotionally grapple with a remote concept.
• Why it matters — It shows how metaphor can be used to "amplify" a moment, forcing the audience to pause and reconsider the parameters of the story.
• In the book — Tom Healy describes Homer’s use of "rosy-fingered dawn" as a way to give agency to natural forces, turning an indifferent physical act into a supernatural, spiritual event.

Allegory and the Psychic Landscape

• What it is — In the Middle Ages, metaphor became "allegory," where entire landscapes (the wilderness, the field) became metaphors for the internal spiritual state.
• Why it matters — It demonstrates how metaphor can be "systematic," creating a world where the external environment is a direct map of the human soul.
• In the book — Julie Sanders explains how the "wild man" in The Green Knight serves as a metaphor for the "anxiety of what might be out there" beyond the safe confines of the home/heart.

The "Accidental" Success of Metaphor

• What it is — Metaphor often works by "derailing" the literal. It creates a "paradoxical sense of an invented truth" that allows us to say things that otherwise could not be told.
• Why it matters — It highlights the risk and reward of metaphor: you can get lost in the "thick" of the metaphor, but that is exactly where the most profound insights are often hidden.
• In the book — Steve Connor notes that metaphor often turns into narrative; once you start arguing in the terms of a metaphor, you are no longer arguing about the literal thing, but about the metaphorical meaning.

The Reaction Against Metaphor (The Age of Reason)

• What it is — In the 18th century, a movement toward "reasonable literalness" sought to categorize the world through science and observation, viewing metaphor as a "disease" or a violation of language.
• Why it matters — It marks the shift from seeing metaphor as a way to find truth to seeing it as a "cloud" that obscures the "light of intelligence."
• In the book — The experts discuss how Dr. Johnson defined metaphor as an "application of a word to a use which in its original import it cannot be put," viewing it as a violation of the language's rules.

The Modernist Return

• What it is — Modernism (and later linguistics) returned to the idea that metaphor is central to how language works because language itself is inherently unstable.
• Why it matters — It acknowledges that we cannot escape metaphor because our very tools for thought are built on it.
• In the book — Tom Healy notes that we moved from seeing metaphor as an "addition" to language to seeing it as the "very nature of how language operates."

Frameworks & tools

The "Resemblance" Diagnostic

Use this to identify how you are actually thinking about a problem when you use a metaphor.

1. Identify the Target: What is the abstract thing you are trying to describe? (e.g., "My career feels stuck.")
2. Identify the Vehicle: What is the image you are using? (e.g., "I'm in a rut.")
3. Find the Ground of Resemblance: What feeling or quality do these two share? (e.g., "The feeling of being unable to move forward despite effort.")
4. Analyze the Shift: Does the metaphor help you see a new solution, or does it trap you in the "rut" of the metaphor?

Memorable examples & stories

The "Rosy-Fingered" Dawn

Homer used the metaphor of a goddess to describe the rising of the sun. This turned a physical, indifferent act into an act of agency and spirituality. Lesson: Metaphor allows us to attribute "intent" and "character" to the world around us.

The "Fog" of Dickens

In Bleak House, Dickens uses fog as a metaphor for the legal system and social disconnection. It touches everyone, connecting them in their shared confusion while simultaneously disconnecting them because they cannot see. Lesson: A great metaphor can capture the "chaos" of a complex social system in a single, pervasive image.

The "Soul as a Dungeon"

The poet Marvell describes the soul as "enslaved" and the body as a "dungeon." It is an "impossible notion" (the soul cannot literally be in a dungeon), but it is "fantastically expressive" of the feeling of physical limitation. Lesson: The power of metaphor lies in its ability to express the "impossible" or the "unthinkable."

Key quotes

"Metaphor is a way of not saying precisely what you mean, but it's the grounds of resemblance." — Steve Connor Why it matters: It defines metaphor as a tool for finding connections, not just for decoration.

"The soul is manacled by the fact that the soul has got hands." — Steve Connor (Paraphrased) Why it matters: This illustrates how a metaphor can create a paradox that is both absurd and deeply true.

"Reality is a cliche... which metaphor helps us escape from." — Wallace Stevens (quoted by Tom Healy) Why it matters: Metaphor is the tool we use to break out of the mundane, literal descriptions of life.

How to apply it

This week

• Audit your "Default" Metaphors: Notice when you say "I'm feeling [X] today" (e.g., "I'm feeling drained," "I'm feeling overwhelmed"). Ask: What is the actual resemblance here? What does "drained" mean in the context of your life?
• The "Resemblance" Exercise: Take a complex emotion you are currently feeling and try to describe it using three different metaphors (e.g., a weather pattern, a physical object, and a mechanical process). See which one provides the most "actionable" insight.

Ongoing

• The "Actionable" Metaphor Rule: When using a metaphor to explain a problem to someone else, ensure the metaphor provides a "way out." If you describe a problem as a "wall," ensure the metaphor also implies a way to climb, break, or go around it.
• Identify the "Ground": When you find yourself arguing with someone, stop and ask: "Are we arguing about the literal thing, or are we arguing in the terms of the metaphor we've both adopted?"

Common pitfalls

• The "Literalist" Trap: Thinking that because a metaphor isn't "literally" true, it isn't "useful." The value of metaphor is in its ability to communicate what literal language cannot.
• The "Decorative" Trap: Using metaphors as "fluff" without actually engaging the "ground of resemblance." If a metaphor doesn't help you see the truth more clearly, it is just a "decoration."
• The "Derailment" Risk: Getting so lost in a metaphor (like the "thick" of a poetic conceit) that you forget to "button it back" to the reality you are trying to describe.

Connects to

• Wittgenstein's Language Games: The idea that language is a set of rules and "games" relates to how metaphor functions as a central rule of linguistic operation.
• Cognitive Linguistics: The study of how our brains use "conceptual metaphors" (e.g., "Time is Money") to organize our entire reality.

If you remember only three things

• Metaphor is the primary way humans perceive and structure reality, not just a poetic ornament.
• It works by finding a "ground of resemblance" between two different things to make an abstract concept (like "the soul") tangible.
• The power of metaphor lies in its ability to express the "impossible" and provide a "paradoxical" truth that literal language cannot reach.

Internalize it

• Reflection questions
  • When I use a metaphor to describe my feelings, what is the specific "ground of resemblance" I am trying to communicate?
  • How does my current "internal landscape" (my mental state) mirror the "external landscape" of my current environment?
  • In what ways is my professional life currently being described by a metaphor that might be "derailing" me from my actual goals?
• Flashcards
  • Q: What is the "ground of resemblance" in a metaphor?
  • A: It is the basis of likeness or equivalence between two things that allows us to say one thing in terms of another.
  • Q: How did Homer use metaphor in his epics?
  • A: He used "epic similes" to amplify moments and "metaphoric formulas" (like rosy-fingered dawn) to give agency to natural forces.
  • Q: What was the 18th-century reaction to metaphor?
  • A: A move toward "reasonable literalness" and classification, viewing metaphor as a "disease" of language that obscured truth.
  • Q: Why is the "soul as a dungeon" a powerful metaphor?
  • A: Because it is "fantastically expressive" of a feeling of imprisonment, even though it is physically impossible.
  • Q: How does modernism view the role of metaphor?
  • A: It recognizes that metaphor is central to how language works because language itself is inherently unstable.

Fidelity note

This summary is based strictly on the provided transcript of the "In Our Time" episode. I am confident in the historical progression of metaphor (Homer to Modernism) and the distinction between "decorative" and "functional" metaphor as presented by the guests. The specific literary examples (Dickens, Milton, Spencer) are included as they were the primary vehicles for the guests' explanations. The "Actionable" sections are derived from the guests' descriptions of how metaphor functions as a cognitive tool.