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Chapter 6. Metaphors of plant cultivation and flowing liquid in German colonialist discourse (1871–1914)

  • Felicity Rash
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Metaphor, Nation and Discourse
This chapter is in the book Metaphor, Nation and Discourse

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical analysis of two major metaphor groups, plant cultivation and flowing liquids, using theories of conceptual metaphor alongside Zinken and Musolff’s premise that metaphor understanding in the real world is “a matter of engagement in debate” rather than solely a speedy and unconscious cognitive operation (Zinken & Musolff 2009: 4). A qualitative analysis of representative texts produced between 1879 and 1913 will show how metaphors of cultivation and flowing reflect German pro-colonialist ideology at the turn of the twentieth century: Wilhelm Hübbe-Schleiden’s Ethiopien, Friedrich Fabri’s Bedarf Deutschland der Colonien, Friedrich Ratzel’s Politische Geographie and Der Lebensraum. Frieda von Bülow’s Tropenkoller, Robert Streit’s Ein Opfer der Hottentotten, and, to a certain extent, Leo Frobenius’s Und Afrika Sprach show some of the less positive aspects of colonialist cultivation and flowing.

Abstract

This chapter offers a critical analysis of two major metaphor groups, plant cultivation and flowing liquids, using theories of conceptual metaphor alongside Zinken and Musolff’s premise that metaphor understanding in the real world is “a matter of engagement in debate” rather than solely a speedy and unconscious cognitive operation (Zinken & Musolff 2009: 4). A qualitative analysis of representative texts produced between 1879 and 1913 will show how metaphors of cultivation and flowing reflect German pro-colonialist ideology at the turn of the twentieth century: Wilhelm Hübbe-Schleiden’s Ethiopien, Friedrich Fabri’s Bedarf Deutschland der Colonien, Friedrich Ratzel’s Politische Geographie and Der Lebensraum. Frieda von Bülow’s Tropenkoller, Robert Streit’s Ein Opfer der Hottentotten, and, to a certain extent, Leo Frobenius’s Und Afrika Sprach show some of the less positive aspects of colonialist cultivation and flowing.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Metaphors in the discursive construction of nations 1
  5. Part I. Discourses and voices of the powerful elites
  6. Chapter 1. The desire for shelter 35
  7. Chapter 2. Barbed wire around Serbia 59
  8. Chapter 3. Godly Poland in godless Europe 75
  9. Chapter 4. “Let’s work on our Serbian!” 101
  10. Chapter 5. Metaphors for language contact and change 127
  11. Chapter 6. Metaphors of plant cultivation and flowing liquid in German colonialist discourse (1871–1914) 155
  12. Chapter 7. The meaning of state created through symbols and metaphors 177
  13. Chapter 8. “The state of our Union is strong.” Metaphors of the nation in State of the Union addresses 201
  14. Part II. Semi-official and mixed discourses
  15. Chapter 9. The role of metonymy and metaphor in the conceptualization of the nation 227
  16. Chapter 10. Metaphorical and non-metaphorical dimensions of the term nacija in Croatian online discourse 259
  17. Chapter 11. How to do things with metaphors 287
  18. Chapter 12. Guidelines on how to construct a nation 321
  19. Afterword 347
  20. Notes on contributors 349
  21. Index 353
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.82.07ras

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Metaphors in the discursive construction of nations 1
  5. Part I. Discourses and voices of the powerful elites
  6. Chapter 1. The desire for shelter 35
  7. Chapter 2. Barbed wire around Serbia 59
  8. Chapter 3. Godly Poland in godless Europe 75
  9. Chapter 4. “Let’s work on our Serbian!” 101
  10. Chapter 5. Metaphors for language contact and change 127
  11. Chapter 6. Metaphors of plant cultivation and flowing liquid in German colonialist discourse (1871–1914) 155
  12. Chapter 7. The meaning of state created through symbols and metaphors 177
  13. Chapter 8. “The state of our Union is strong.” Metaphors of the nation in State of the Union addresses 201
  14. Part II. Semi-official and mixed discourses
  15. Chapter 9. The role of metonymy and metaphor in the conceptualization of the nation 227
  16. Chapter 10. Metaphorical and non-metaphorical dimensions of the term nacija in Croatian online discourse 259
  17. Chapter 11. How to do things with metaphors 287
  18. Chapter 12. Guidelines on how to construct a nation 321
  19. Afterword 347
  20. Notes on contributors 349
  21. Index 353
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