(PL) Another word for nonmetaphorical or literal emotion
The simple phrase I couldn't recall yesterday, describing a category of emotions many theorists find mostly absent in our experience of music (and the arts generally) is "everyday, garden-variety emotions." There, I feel better now.
Just what we were lacking -- a metaphor for the non-metaphorical!
I wonder, though, whether we actually have any direct, literal way of speaking about our emotions. 'Fear' is pretty straightforward, I guess, but since emotions are almost reductively subjective states without one-to-one cognitive analogues, it's always a struggle to express them precisely. The locution must aim to generate recognition of a similar emotive state in the hearer, without being able to appeal directly to a shared, objective referent.
Just what we were lacking -- a metaphor for the non-metaphorical!
ReplyDeleteI wonder, though, whether we actually have any direct, literal way of speaking about our emotions. 'Fear' is pretty straightforward, I guess, but since emotions are almost reductively subjective states without one-to-one cognitive analogues, it's always a struggle to express them precisely. The locution must aim to generate recognition of a similar emotive state in the hearer, without being able to appeal directly to a shared, objective referent.