Ironic Revisions of Complex Visual Metaphors

Abstract

Traditional literary criticism is concerned with metaphors in texts. Current theorists of conceptual metaphor debate whether metaphor can exist in pictures. There is a long tradition of illustrated literature, however, texts with accompanying pictures. This paper assumes that metaphoric pictures do exist, and begins by examining the relationship between pictures and text in the works of William Makepeace Thackeray, a nineteenth-century English novelist whose illustrations provide explanation, and through a subtle system of related metaphors, ironic commentary on the text. The metaphors in the illustrations range from simple to complex, and close analysis shows them to be an integral part of the narrative, adding depth and meaning. Post-modern authors and artists use materials and techniques of earlier generations to comment on the evolution of the post-modern world. The second part of this paper examines the manipulation of Victorian visual metaphors by Edward Gorey, a twentieth-century American cartoonist. His appeal is his style, at once brooding, dangerous, and familiar, old-fashioned in appearance yet modern in theme, manipulating Victorian motifs and Gothic settings, capitalizing on the inherent menace in the familiar. Gorey uses symbols, signs and icons from the established lexicon to great effect by changing context and abrupt juxtaposition. With visual poems, jokes, and satires, Gorey's work is a metaphor for our time, showing the dark underside to the surface of daily life.