The Literary Mind.pdf

FIGURED TALES 39
projected onto the story of the sailor's exposure to the elements, a story of tearing
down projected onto the story of elmtops falling in high winds and rain, a
story of a. departure involving many actors projected onto a story of death, and a
story of one person taking a physical object away from another projected onto the
epic story of the deaths of Odysseus's shipmates.
ACTORS ARE MOVERS
One of the most common uses of EVENTS ARE ACTIONS is to project stories of
body motion onto other action-stories. EVENTS ARE ACTIONS thus has a special
subset: ACTORS ARE MOVERS. It is a general projection. Specific projections develop
from it. Many of them are common and have become conventional. Several
were noted as separate items by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson.
ACTORS ARE MOVERS is a dynamic, flexible, self-reinforcing pattern for projecting
stories of body motion onto stories of action. Below is a list of common
projections that arise from it. The list is not exclusive—the general projection
invites creativity. The list is not obligatory—most of it can be ignored as we recruit
what we need and modify or elaborate it. Elements on the list overlap considerably
and sometimes imply each other. Crucially, the examples on this list are
not mere figures of speech. They are not specific to language. They are expressions
in language of the mental processes I call parable. They all concern the projection
of a basic abstract story of movement by an actor under his own power
onto a different story of action, whether or not it involves movement. These projections
show up constantly in both everyday language and literary language
because they are general cognitive processes indispensable to human thought and
action.
Actors Are Actors Moving under Their Own Power
She is a mover in the entertainment industry.
Action is absolutely necessary but the president appears to be
paralyzed.
Action Is Motion by an Actor under His Own Power
She walked right into a dismal job.
She went ahead and gave her opinion.
States (of Actors) Are Spatial Locations (That Actors Can Be In)
He sees financial security as being far off in the distance.
We cannot return to former conditions.
Being in a State Is Being in a Spatial Location
He is in retirement.