Thesis (DLitt (Ancient Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / This study accounts for the forms and functions of the similes in the Book of Hosea. It proposes new tools for textual criticism, biblical interpretation, and understanding Biblical Hebrew (BH) worldview. Chapter One presents the task we have chosen for ourselves, its nature, some obstacles from other areas of scholarship, and the foundational notions of embodiment and Prototype Theory. Chapter Two presents principles drawn from Cognitive Semantics and Cognitive Syntax. A weakened version of the Lakoff-Johnson conceptual metaphor theory is adopted, and the key notions of embodiment and judgments of prototypicality are presented. Elements of Conceptual Blending are presented and adapted for simile analysis. Finally, text-based differences between metaphors and similes are discussed. Chapter Three presents cognitive cultural constructs of Strauss and Quinn: cultural schemas, cultural exemplars, cultural models, and cultural themes. Strauss and Quinn’s conclusions about metaphors’ use in everyday speech are shown to agree with our postulation of speaker assessment of the hearer’s ability to process utterances before they are produced. This postulation allows us to erect one part of a theory of simile. Chapter Three then integrates metaphor with the Strauss-Quinn cultural meaning model, and then with Boroditsky’s Weak Structuring view of metaphor. The effect is to provide a reasonable basis, amenable to empirical investigation, for the investigation of both metaphor and simile. Finally, the notions of embodiment and prototypicality are applied to the Strauss-Quinn model. Chapter Four presents various assumptions and conclusions that are later used to analyze Hosea’s similes. These include: (1) elements of Floor’s (2004a) model of Information Structure for BH narrative, with modifications and additions for poetry; (2) three cognitive types of similes in Hosea, posited for working purposes; (3) an adaptation of the conceptual blending apparatus to similes; (4) hypotheses to account for the distribution of similes versus that of metaphors in BH poetry, and to account for patterned differences in how various kinds of concepts are combined and manipulated; (5) an integration of these patterns with the three simile types; and (6) correlation of the cultural constructs of cultural schema, cultural theme, and cultural model with Hosea’s similes and metaphors. Chapter Five presents a number of scholarly views of the Book of Hosea, and characterizes the principal authorities cited in the next chapter. Chapter Six deductively applies all the foregoing theory to an examination of Hosea’s similes. Other observations are made inductively: (1) kinaesthetic image schemas’ role in Hosea’s poetry; (2) systematic difference in the use of similes versus metaphors in image elaboration; and (3) Information Structure’s role in simile analysis. Chapter Seven summarizes this study’s research and conclusions concerning, e.g., (1) the criteria for accounting for the embodiment and judgments of prototypicality characterizing Hosea’s similes; (2) the dependence of Hosea and his audience upon knowledge of themselves and their environment for their view of YHWH; and (3) the aid brought by a cognitive theory of similes in the task of textual criticism. Chapter Eight discusses prospects for further research and possible implications for translating Hosea’s similes and metaphors.

Il presente lavoro offre l’edizione critica del romanzo inedito di Luigi Fallacara (Bari 1890, Firenze 1963), L’occhio simile al sole, dall’autore stesso definito «il suo libro più caro e più importante», scritto, in base agli scartafacci, tra il 1945 e il 1954, durante un periodo di stasi lirica. Le numerose carte accumulate da Fallacara nel suo incontentabile lavoro correttorio, di cui si dà una dettagliata descrizione, sono dislocate in tre Archivi, quello della “Letteratura cattolica e degli scrittori in ricerca” presso l’Università Cattolica di Milano, il Centro manoscritti di Pavia e l’Archivio privato del poeta a Firenze. Si sono ricostruite tutte le fasi dell’iter compositivo, con la distinzione, tra l’altro, all’interno dell’unico Ms di due blocchi di capitoli (Ms1 e Ms2) corrispondenti a due distinte fasi redazionali; attraverso l’analisi dell’imponente materiale genetico e anche di carteggi inediti, si sono poi individuate alcune linee tematiche e interpretative del testo, dalla filigrana neoplatonico-dantesca al simbolismo solare, dal rapporto tra scrittura e pittura alle implicazioni autobiografiche, dalla componente mistico-francescana alle suggestioni montaliane e beethoveniane. Infine, oltre alla bibliografia aggiornata sull’autore, nella sezione iconografica vengono raccolti alcuni quadri di Fallacara che presentano significative analogie con quelli citati nel romanzo. / This thesis offers a critical review of the unpublished novel by Luigi Fallacara (Bari 1890, Firenze 1963), L’occhio simile al sole, which the author believed to be «his dearest and most important book». According to the available documents, the book was written from 1945 to 1954, during the author's hiatus from the creation of poetry. The large volume of notes produced by Fallacara as he tirelessly revised his work over and over, described in detail in this thesis, are stored in three Archives: the archive of “Catholic literature and writer researches” at the Università Cattolica in Milano, the Institute for manuscripts in Pavia and the poet's private Archives in Florence. This work reconstructs all phases of the creative process, identifying the two sets of chapters (Ms1 and Ms2) within one single manuscript, each of which represents a distinct drafting phases. By analysing the voluminous genetic materials as well as the unpublished documents, this work identifies the various themes and interpretative lines in the text, from the neoplatonic-dantesque lief motif to solar symbolism, from the relationship between writing and painting to autobiographical implications, from the mystical-Franciscan elements to the suggestions that emanate from Montale and Beethoven. Finally, alongside the updated bibliography for the author, the iconographic section collects certain paintings by Fallacara, which are poignantly analogous to those described in the novel.

The present thesis deals with figures of speech in non-literary texts and with the problems connected to their translation. The first part is dedicated to the theoretical description of figures of speech. First we deal with their definition according to the Czech and Spanish terminology and next we proceed to the figures that can be expected in popular science texts. We deal mainly with metaphors, their classification and opinions of translation scientists about the possibilities of their translation; but we mention also simile, metonymy and synecdoche. The second chapter is dedicated to popular science texts, to the problems connected to their translation, to the presence of metaphors in this type of texts and to their translation. In the second part we describe the analysed texts and the methods used in our work; the third part deals with the results of our analysis. During our analysis we found the same amount of figures of speech in both languages. Metaphors predominate in both languages, but while in Czech they represent the absolute majority of all figures, in Spanish they represent only a half of all the examples. Personification also appears many times in Spanish texts, but in Czech texts it doesn't appear in such a large measure. Metonymy, synecdoche and rhetorical question are represented...

Il lavoro nasce come prosecuzione del saggio del Professor Langella "Manzoni poeta teologo". Consta di tre parti: una iniziale rassegna critica fa quasi da pretesto per trovare assetto e convergenza metodologica. Il secondo capitolo ripercorre due grandi questioni biografiche manzoniane (conversione e giansenismo). Il terzo capitolo, eminentemente stilistico, contiene anche una riflessione sul valore della similitudine in Manzoni. Schedate in appendice tutte le similitudini del "Fermo e Lucia" e dei "Promessi Sposi". / Dr. Raffaella’s Battaglini’s work was born as an ideal completion of Professor Langella's essay "Manzoni poeta teologo". The present essay is evidently threefold: the critical review at the beginning functions almost as a way - we might even say a pretext – to find the right methodological approach for the entire work. The biographical overview is focused on the knots of Manzoni’s conversion on one hand, and of his Jansenism on the other. A sort of status quaestionis of Manzoni’s Jansenism is presented in the Second Chapter. The final stylistic analysis – which was initially supposed to appear at the beginning of the essay – has undoubtedly great qualities and reveals Dr. Raffaella Battaglini’s talent. The monographic study of the simile summarizes and revives many of the remarks (Trompeo, Petrocchi, Cerisola, Raimondi can be quoted among others) that the critical corpus about Manzoni has often pointed out but not always fully developped. The approach to the text is easy without being ingenuous, the remarks are always thoughtful, the prose is fluent and lively. The final appendix about simile, patiently composed, happily fulfills a literary whole contemplari et aliis contemplata tradere.

This is a semantic study, dealing with style and technique in the short stories of D. B. Z. Ntuli. The study as a whole analyses Ntuli' s first six volumes of short stories. The first chapter is an introduction, dealing with the aim of the study. The second sub-section after aim is Ntuli's biographical notes. Full details of this author from high school attendance to his contribution during his working experience are given. Ntuli's biography is followed by the scope of study. Under this sub-heading, short story volumes to be analysed are clearly stated. The fourth sub-heading is the method of approach and a conclusion. Chapter two deals with various types of repetition, a literary technique. It analyses Ntuli's use of language, and repetition of sentences approaching it from different angles. Chapter three and four deal with choice of words. The former chapter handles the various types of language elements semantically and the latter deals specifically with the ideophone. The ideophone is sub-divided into two sub-sections: classification and usage. Chapter five deals with proverbial expressions and these are sub-divided into two sections: idioms and proverbs. The usage of idiomatic expressions is discussed under: verbs, nouns and qualificatives, while the proverbs are analysed under classification and syntax. Imagery is dealt with in chapter six. Imagery is further sub-divided into four categories: metaphor, simile, personification and symbolism. Style and structure are discussed in chapter seven. In this chapter various elements of language forms are handled: types of sentenceidiophonic; negative forms of the ideophone, with conjunctives; sentences with adverbs; the demonstratives; titles of short story volumes and naming of characters. Chapter eight is the general conclusion, reflecting on Ntuli's style and technique with special emphasis on his unique use of the language. Reference is made to discoveries regarding the author's use of vocabulary, and his techniques in using repetition as well as avoiding it, which is part of his style. His choice of words and how he arranges them on paper is also discussed. Ntuli's choice of titles in naming his short story volumes is summed up showing that these have been influenced by his background. The study concludes by suggesting areas that still require further analysis in Ntuli 's short stories. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

There is no consensus regarding the interpretation of the "Spirit like a dove" comparison in Jesus' baptism (Mk 1:10). Although scholars have proposed at least fifty different interpretations of the dove comparison, no study appears to have considered Isaiah's three dove texts as the background for the Markan dove (cf. Is 38:14; 59:11; 60:8). This neglect is surprising considering the abundance of Isaianic allusions in Mark's Prologue (Mk 1:1-15), and the growing awareness that Isaiah is the hermeneutical key for both the Markan Prologue and Jesus' baptism within it. Indeed, Mark connects the dove image inseparably to the Spirit's "descent" from heaven, which alludes to Yahweh's descent in a New Exodus deliverance in Isaiah 63:19 [MT]. Furthermore, each Isaianic dove text uses the same simile, "like a dove" or "like doves," which appears in Mark 1:10, and shares the theme of lament and restoration which fits the context of Mark's baptism account. This study therefore argues that the dove image in Mark 1:10 is a symbol which evokes metonymically Isaiah's three dove texts. So the Spirit is "like a dove" not because any quality of the Spirit resembles that of a dove, but because the dove recalls the Isaianic theme of lament and restoration associated with doves in this Scriptural tradition. After discussing the Markan dove in terms of simile, symbol, and metonymy, the study examines the Isaianic dove texts in the MT and LXX and argues that they form a single motif. Next, later Jewish references to the Isaianic dove texts are considered, while an Appendix examines further dove references in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature. Finally, the study argues that the Markan dove coheres in function with the Isaianic dove motif and symbolizes the Spirit's effect upon and through Jesus by evoking metonymically the Isaianic dove texts.