მეტაფორა და მეტამორფოზა
Metaphor and Metamorphosis

Summary/Abstract: The study of metaphor, the central trope responsible for the artistic quality of a text, started in the times of Aristotle. Since then, many scholarly opinions have been ventured and several theories have been developed. One of the principle objectives of metaphor studies is admitted to be its relationship with other tropes: simile and metonymy. Along with this, scholars have been exploring interrelationships between metaphor and metamorphosis. The so-called transformations are prevalent in the artistic thought. They offer a vivid picture of the author’s (character’s) spiritual state and very often determine chief merits of artistic images found in a text. Virtual or imaginary transformations are associated with mythic metamorphoses. It should also be noted that unlike simile and metonymy, metamorphosis is not a trope. Another noteworthy fact is that the majority of scholars draw a clear line between metaphor and metamorphosis. This viewpoint is supported by two arguments: 1. Metaphor implies nothing that could suggest transformation. On the contrary, bidimensionality, conceptual likening of two altogether different ‘items’ is inherent with metaphor. On the other hand, metamorphosis is the repercussion of mythological thought when every type of transformation is perceived as a real fact. Hence, transformation is a means of world perception. 2. Metaphor is distinguished for its tendency to penetrate the field of semantics, which is not characteristic of metamorphosis. In my opinion, the erroneous conceptual basis of such reasoning lies in limiting metamorphosis solely to the domain of ‘mythological thought’. Close analysis of the nature and kinds of metamorphosis revealed that the latter implies an unanticipated identification of absolutely opposite values (categories, classes). And the myths reflecting a metamorphosis explain the prime cause (etiology) of unanticipated transformations. These universal etiological myths offer a single or several similar versions throwing light on the semantics of a metamorphosal image, turned into a poetic figure. In fact, ancient creative thinking is mostly based exactly on metamorphosal images. Metamorphosis, an ‘output’ of the earliest, most archaic thinking, is to a greater extent a source of ancient metaphor. This thinking incorporates every manifestation of primeval syncretism – religion, thought, generalization and creativity; integration and disintegration. Naturally, not all metamorphoses develop into a metaphor; sometimes metamorphoses retain their original nature and appear as independent elements. These processes can be compared to the treatment of diamonds. Not every piece of rough diamond will turn into a fine cultivated gem but only those cut by a skillful master. Metamorphosis is a rough diamond in the hands of a master, who can cut it into a metaphor if he wishes so. The aim of the paper is to determine the function of metamorphosis in differentiating between new and old (ancient) metaphors

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