E-Book of Articles - World Federation of Music Therapy

Bonde, Lars Ole: Analogy And Metapher In Music Therapy Theory ...
as the ringing of bells, the singing of birds, or the voices of animals. In a broader
sense it refers to any combination of imitative sounds and rhythms that are used to
reinforce the sense or moods of a passage of poetry or prose.
Idiom and Slang An idiomatic expression is a phrase that has become an accepted
part of a language but that makes little sense if taken literally. Most idioms are
difficult, therefore, to translate from one language to another. Common English
idioms include "Hold the door," "Catch a cold," "Run up a bill," "Beat a retreat," and
"Strike a bargain." - Slang consists of words and phrases that came into use in one
of the many subgroups that make up society. Eventually this vocabulary comes to
be known and used by the general population. Slang is, therefore, a middle ground
of words and expressions between standard and informal speech on the one hand
and jargon, dialect, and vulgar speech on the other.
Symbol In one sense, every word is a symbol. "Tree" is four letters and a certain
sound, but it is also a thing with bark and leaves. Put into a context which includes
the word Calvary it becomes a metaphor for the cross on which Christ was nailed.
That kind of extension of meaning, which is called symbolism, is actually one of the
most suggestive and economical ways of communicating the aesthetic experience.
Prof. Harry Levin of Harvard University distingusihes between the conventional and
the explicit levels of symbolism. Much poetic symbolism is conventional. A journey
often symbolizes human life; a season often suggests the age of a man. An example
of expicit symbolism is this line by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "Thou, too, sail
on, O Ship of State!" A third sort described by Levin is the implicit, which takes the
reader into more ambiguous country. In Herman Melville's 'Moby-Dick', Moby Dick is
more than whale, but what precisely is it? God? The spirit of evil? A manifestation
of pure mindless force? No single explanation will fully satisfy. It is in this area of
unexplained, private, or ambiguous meaning that much contemporary writing
exists.
GIM as a metaphoric process
The standard format of a GIM session is well known (e.g. Short 1991,
p. 67). I will express my point by adding the following identification of
metaphorical tasks in the discrete phases:
Prelude: Identification of a (potential) core metaphor in the client’s here-
and-now language
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