So I just finished reading Conceptual Blending and Analogy by Gilles Fauconnier, and I first want to say that I found it rather fascinating. How strange it seems that I am constantly taking abstract ideas/sayings and blending them to make sense...but I suppose that's the point, isn't it? I automatically blend different ideas and circumstances to create a coherent world of understanding for myself. If I didn't blend two ideas together, how difficult it would be to get anything complex done! I think it's amazing that my brain does that without any help from me, it just adapts on its own.
Now to the question: How can conceptual blending be applied to the study of religion? In terms of metaphorical prose, I think it's quite easy to see how religion fits into this idea. Take the bible, for example...it is chock-full of metaphors that Christians blend with their own lives to make sense. Many stories in the bible do not relate directly to twenty-first century life, but through conceptual blending and the use of metaphors to apply to the world nowadays, they can apply the old stories to themselves. The story of Noah and the Ark, for example, is a tale that is hard to relate to in terms of the real world. But by reading it metaphorically and thinking about the message of the story, there's deeper meaning that wouldn't be found otherwise. I mean, it's weird to think of God telling you to build a huge ark and put a pair of every type of animal on a boat because a huge flood will be coming that will cover the land for 40 days and 40 nights. But it's not weird to think that the point of the story is to believe in God and follow his word, even if it seems crazy at the time, because in the end you will be saved. It's just taking one idea and blending it with another in order to apply it to life now. Nobody reading the story of Noah would think it their duty to build an ark (hopefully they wouldn't), but they would think it prudent to follow the word of God.
You sound like St. Augustine with all your figurative talk :-)
ReplyDeleteThen again, Augustine did say that parts of Noah's story were just foreshadowing the coming of Jesus, so...
But yes, I agree. Conceptual Blending makes understanding this story a lot easier! Thinking about this whole concept makes me wonder how much of the Bible was written expressly for this purpose, for people to have some way of connecting the concept of God's power with real-life-esque events. Then again, it's hard to explore that question seeing as how many take the Bible to be the word of God!
I think that conceptual blending, as you said, helps the modern day individuals of a religious group continue to apply the ancient texts to their everyday life.
ReplyDeleteI like your post. What i think in funny though, is that crazy commands + authoritative figure = better future. Kind of reminds me of any dictatorship. You only have to determine which outweighs the other; the word from the dictator, or the action itself, and whether the stronger side is worth your while or not.
ReplyDeletereally great Noah's ark example-that story and others show how metaphors are so prevalent and also important in establishing beliefs.
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