The language of images – metaphor and metonymy in film

Abstract

Ali avdiovizualni medij filma pozna metafore in metonimije? Večina filmskih teoretikov na to vprašanje odgovarja pritrdilno. Odgovor na vprašanje, v čem je razlika med filmsko in jezikovno metaforo in metonimijo, pa ni tako enoumen. Metaforični in metonimični procesi v filmu so v središču pričujočega prispevka, pri čemer izhajam iz pregleda različnih pogledov na koncept filmske metafore in metonimije (od Eisensteina do Metza in novejših monografij), na osnovi katerega skušam opredeliti specifičnost filmske metaforike. Izrazna sredstva filmske retorike (filmske metafore in filmske metonimije) sem opazovala in analizirala na podlagi izbranih zgledov iz klasičnih in modernih filmov. Z Metzem (1974/1991: 40) postuliram, da je film »vrsta jezika«, ki ima tudi posebno retoriko, in sicer retoriko podobe/slike in zvoka, ki je primerljiva z retoriko jezika, a kljub vsemu drugačna in svojstvena.

Does the audio-visual medium of film contain metaphors and metonymies? Most film scholars think so. When considering the difference between visual (cinematographic, film) and linguistic metaphors and metonymies however, such opinions are not so uniform. Metaphorical and metonymical processes in film are at the centre of our article. We aim to describe and define the specifics of visual metaphors and metonymies through presenting an overview of the different theories concerning visual metaphors and metonymies (from Eisenstein to Metz and contemporary monographs). We will then observe and interpret the use of visual rhetorical means of expression (film metaphors and metonymies) in select classical and modern movies. We postulate that film is a ‘kind of language’1 (Metz 1974/1991: 40) and therefore has its own special rhetoric (of image and sound) that is comparable to verbal language yet also different.