Sunday 9 November 2008

metaphors, metonyms and synecdoche....

ok so I completely forgot about this until I was reminded about it approximately 5 minutes ago...also because I am so organised I can't get my hands on that sheet and any definitions I can find on the internet seem as though they have been written by people who have literally swallowed a dictionary. what i'm saying is...i'll sort this out tomorrow when i'm in a better state of mind. until then here's one image i've found which acts as a metaphor for the future of a marriage. the well recognised wedding cake is symbolic of the relationship between the couple and the fact it is split in half signifies the predicted seperation. it's quite a cynical image come to think of it...i quite like it though.




Right so...a metaphor is...something that isn't necessarily anything to do with what is being represented but is symbolic of it or is associated with it. In this example cake doesn't really have anything to do with a relationship but it is understood that the split is symbolic of what will happen to the couple....

A visual synecdoche is a part that represents a whole.



Here these two hands represent two different people. The hand is only a body part, but we know that it belongs to a person without it having to be shown.

A visual metonym is an image which is symbolic of a subject. The image and subject are related however not exclusively.




Because of the context you may associate these rings with marriage and the commitment that they represent. The fact that the rings are interlinked also represents a "joining together" which supports the idea of a relationship. Although rings are symbolic of this, they are not exclusively for this purpose. The can also be worn as an accessory.


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