A természet könyvét olvasni. A megértés metaforái a 18–19. század fordulóján
Reading the Book of Nature: Metaphors of Understanding at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses Hungarian texts about the reading and readability of the book of nature written at the turn of the eighteenth century. It focuses on concepts of the book and reading implied by this metaphor, as well as the expected strategies of understanding. In a religious context the metaphor promises direct understanding, but since this is inconsistent with the contemporary concept of reading, new figures of speech were introduced into the texts (nature as a theatre, mirror or picture). Examining the concept of vision underlying these metaphors, the study analyses works of natural history from the era, as these are texts that exemplify the main characteristics and problems of vision metaphors outside the religious context . The analysis points out how this underlying concept of vision eliminates the possibility and promise of direct understanding.

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