Musical Metaphors from a Comparative Perspective (Departmental Seminar)

Abstract:

My talk is based on an article called “Musical Metaphors in Chinese Aesthetics” (JCP, 2020). Since then, I have received some responses to it, I thought it would be worthwhile to revisit it from a comparative philosophical perspective. According to the conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson 2003), a metaphor is not just a rhetorical device but rather a fundamental conceptual framework operating at the level of thinking. When one describes a painting as “musically moving” or “melodious,” one transfers a conceptual framework of music from its typical domain into a new domain where neither musical movement nor melody takes place. In this light, the extensive use of musical metaphors based on qì-dynamics such as “rhythmic vitality” or “literary vitality” for art criticism in early China can be deemed as conceptual mappings between music and other arts. In addition, musical metaphors in ancient China seem to have served as guiding principles in individual art theories. However, this does not mean that musical metaphors cannot exist in Western aesthetics. Also, the musical metaphors currently being conceived in the cultures of each East Asian country may differ from each other depending on the history of the concept of qi that has developed in the different East Asian countries over the past century and a half. In this seminar, we will introduce musical metaphors in the East Asian tradition and discuss some of the issues that need to be discussed further.

Delivered in English.
All are welcome.