Francesca Montesperelli, Jodi L. Sandford
Metafore della mente
tra letteratura e linguistica
Scritture e linguaggi, 5
2022
2022
Isbn: 9791280662071
Pagine: 312
Che cosa si intende quando si parla del “lavorìo” della mente o di una decisione “calcolata”? E la frase
“avere in mente qualcosa” allude a una specie di contenitore di idee? Oppure, spostandoci dal
linguaggio comune a quello letterario, che cosa implicano espressioni come “specchio oscuro della
mente” (Alexis de Tocqueville), “atmosfera della mente” (Henry James), “camere del cervello”
(Virginia Woolf), o “flusso di coscienza” (William James)?
Questo volume prende in esame alcuni casi di metafore della mente, sia nell’ambito del parlare
comune – dove vengono spesso usate senza avere coscienza della loro natura analogica –, che in quello
della scrittura letteraria, dove si impongono invece come un’anomalia, un sussulto imprevisto nella
routine del meccanismo linguistico convenzionale.
What do we mean when we talk about the “workings” of the mind or about a “calculated” decision?
Does “have something in mind” allude to a type of container of ideas? Or, if we go from everyday
language to literary expressions, what are the implications in “the dark mirror of the mind” (Alexis de
Tocqueville), “atmosphere of the mind” (Henry James), “chambers of the brain” (Virginia Woolf), or
“the stream of consciousness” (William James)?
This volume examines various metaphors of the mind, both in natural language—where they are often
used without being aware of their analogical nature—, and in literary writing, where they impose
themselves rather as an anomaly, an unexpected jolt in the routine of conventional linguistic mechanisms.
Jodi L. Sandford received her PhD in Cognitive Linguistics from the University of Perugia (Italy), where she is
currently research-professor in English Linguistics and Translation. Her main topic of research is Cognitive
Semantics: Color and Color Metaphor. She has participated as editorial scientific committee member, as
speaker and chair in numerous conferences, and as member of the International and UK Cognitive
Linguistics Associations; European Society for the Study of English, Associazione Italiana di Anglistica;
International Colour Association; Gruppo del Colore: Associazione Italiana Colore. Her most recent
publications include a translation from Italian—Aldo Capitini on Opposition and Liberation (2020)—and the
articles Taste and Sight: A Corpus Analysis of English Adjective-Noun Constructions, and In What Sense Do
You Sense That Sense: A Cognitive Linguistic Analysis of ‘Sense’ Polysemy (2019). She has worked in visual
artists with her husband Valter Gosti under a single signature Sandford&Gosti since 2000.