Metaphor is figure of speech in which there is a implicit comparison, that is, without conjunction or comparative conjunctive phrase. So there are metaphors impure (simple, as they are straightforward) and pure (more complex, as they are indirect). Therefore, if there is, between the elements compared in the sentence, a conjunction or comparative conjunctive locution, this is not configured in a metaphor, but in the comparison figure of speech.
Read too: What is an ellipse?
What is metaphor?
Metaphor is a figure of speech; more particularly, a word picture, as it presents a word (or expression) with figurative meaning. Thus, we can define metaphor as being a kind of comparison, but a implicit comparison, as it does not require conjunction or comparative conjunctive phrase.
Thus, Gustavo Bernardo, PhD in Comparative Literature, states:
Leafing through our old school notebooks, we remember that the metaphor say one thing for another, designating an object by a word designating another object , which, in turn, would have with the first a similarity relation. For example: “he has an iron will” speaks of a will as strong as iron is supposed to be. [...]. Discovering the appropriate metaphor makes it easier to approach, by expression as similar as possible, to that element of reality that interests us.
Uses of Metaphor
The metaphor can be pure or impure. What will differentiate one from the other is the presence or not, in the sentence, of all the terms of comparison.
Example of impure metaphor
To illustrate, we are going to read, below, excerpts from the lyrics of the song “Amor e Sex”, by Rita Lee, Roberto de Carvalho and Arnaldo Jabor, from the album Balacobaco (2003). This lyric is composed of several impure metaphors, ie, simpler for being direct. In this case, metaphors are used to try to define what love is and what sex is, as well as the difference between them:
Love and abook
sex is sport
sex is choice
Love and luck
Love and thought, theorem
Love and novel
sex is movie theater
sex is imagination, fantasy
Love and prose
sex is poetry
love makes us pathetic
sex is onejungle of epileptics
love is christian
sex is pagan
Love and latifundium
sex is invasion
Love is divine
sex is animal
Love and bossa nova
sex is Carnival
[...]
Thus, the love it is compared to: book, luck, thought, theorem, novel, prose, latifundium and bossa-nova; it's the sex is compared to: sport, choice, cinema, imagination, fantasy, poetry, a jungle of epileptics, invasion and carnival. So, to understand each metaphor, you just need to know each of these elements of comparison and associate your characteristics with love or sex.
Example of pure metaphor
In pure metaphor, one of the elements of comparison is not made explicit. So she is indirect and need even more of the world knowledge reader or listener to be identified. Next, let's see a sonnet from Mario Quintana (1906-1994), in which we can observe some pure metaphors:
The first time I murdered
I lost a way of smiling I had.
Afterwards, every time I killed,
They took something from me.
And today, of my dead bodies, I'm
The most naked, the one that has nothing left.
burns a stub of candle, yellowish.
As the only good that was left to me!
come, crows, jackals, thieves of the road!
Ah! of this hand, avariciously hooks,
no one will rip me the holy light!
night birds! horror wings! Fly!
That light, shaky and sad as hell,
The light of the dead never goes out!
So, we can point out the following pure metaphors: "murdered" and "killed" (may mean the act of hurting), "corpses" (may mean a hurt, injured person), "sail" (may mean life itself, which wears out), "crows" (may mean ominous people), "jackals" (may mean people explorers), "the sacred light" (can mean life, hope or faith), as well as "birds of the night" and "wings of horror" (can mean threats). So there is a indirect comparison between these highlighted terms and their possible meanings.
Read too: What is Metonymy?
Differences between metaphor and comparison
The difference between metaphor and comparison is pretty clear. At Comparation, there is, among the terms compared, a conjunction or comparative conjunctive phrase, that is: “as”, “such as”, “as well as”, “as well as”, “which”, “as”, “what”, “from what”, “as much as” etc. What doesn't happen with the metaphor, Because the comparison is implied.
See that, in the letter "Love and sex", if we put a comparative conjunction between the nouns “love” and “sex” and their elements of comparison, we get the figure of speech comparison; we no longer have, therefore, metaphors:
Love is [like] a book
sex is [like] sport
Sex is [like] choice
love is [like] luck
See too: What is catachresis?
solved exercises
Question 1 - (Enem)
The author of the following text criticizes, albeit in metaphorical language, contemporary society in relation to its eating habits.
“You over 15 years old, remember when we used to buy bottled milk at the dairy on the corner? [...]
But you don't remember anything, man! Maybe they don't even know what a cow is. Nor what is milk. I'm saying this because just now I took a carton of milk — milk in a carton, imagine, Tereza! — on the back door and it was written that it is pasteurized, or pasteurized, I don't know, it has a vitamin, it is guaranteed by embromatology, it was enriched and the barter.
Is this really milk? In the dictionary it says that milk is something else: 'White liquid, containing water, protein, sugar and mineral salts'. A food for no one to defect. The human being has used it for over 5000 years. It is the only food only food. The meat is used for the animal to walk, the fruit is used to make another fruit, the egg is used to make another chicken [...]. Milk is just milk. Either take it or throw it away.
This one looking well, it's just to get rid of it. There's lead, there's benzene, there's more water than milk, there's sawdust, I can swear there isn't even a cow behind this thing.
Afterwards, people still think it's strange that boys don't like milk. But how can they not like it? Don't like how? Never took! Moooooo!"
FERNANDES, Millôr. The State of S. Paul, August 22, 1999.
The author's criticism is directed:
a) new generations unaware of the importance of dairy cattle for the national economy.
b) the decrease in milk production after the development of technologies that have replaced natural products with artificial products.
c) the abusive artificialization of traditional foods, with loss of criteria for judging their quality and flavor.
d) the permanence of eating habits from the agricultural revolution and the domestication of animals that began 5000 years ago.
e) the importance given to the milk package for the conservation of a perishable product that needs technological improvement.
Resolution
Alternative C.
In the text, there is a criticism of the abusive artificialization of traditional foods, such as milk. Therefore, milk is used metaphorically to refer to other traditional foods. In addition, the author notes the loss of consumer discretion to judge its quality and taste.
Question 2 - (Enem)
the twelve colors of red
You come home after having dinner with your friend with the green eyes. Greens. Sometimes when you leave the office you want to be distracted. You can't stand your draftsman work anymore. Copies blueprints rulers millimeter india compass 360º of fenced enclosure. Before bed you want to study for the art history test but your little girl has a fever and calls you. Her hand in his hand is a sunless fish in nocturnal rays. Hot waves. Her husband approaches, sock-clad feet in baggy slippers. He looks at the time on both wristwatches. He accuses you of staying out of the house all day late into the night while the girl was burning with fever. Point and point. Pain rising perfume...
WEDGE, H. P. the twelve colors of red. Rio de Janeiro: Tempo Brasileiro, 2009.
Contemporary Brazilian literature has addressed, from different perspectives, issues related to the female universe. In the fragment, among the expressive resources used in the construction of the narrative, the
a) repetition of “you”, which refers to the character's interlocutor.
b) absence of commas, which marks the character's angry speech.
c) detailed description of the work space, which is opposed to the home.
d) self-irony, which eases the character's feeling of oppression.
e) absence of metaphors, which is responsible for the objectivity of the text.
Resolution
Alternative B.
In the text, the absence of commas is evident. However, to exclude alternatives, it is necessary to know that alternative E is wrong, since it mentions the absence of metaphors; however, the text presents metaphors, such as: “fish without sun”.
Question 3 - (Enem)
Text I
emerald floor
I feel stepping
an emerald floor
when i take my heart
to the hose
under a shower of roses
my blood gushes from the veins
And dye a rug
for her samba
It's the royalty of the big ones
who wants to show off
superb, graceful
My school is a spinning pinwheel
it's green it's pink
Oh, make way for Mangueira to pass
BUARQUE, C.; OAK, H. B. Chico Buarque de Mangueira. Marola Edições Musicais Ltda. BMG. 1997. Available at: www.chicobuarque.com.br. Accessed on: 30 Apr. 2010.
Text II
When the samba school enters Marquês de Sapucaí, the audience goes crazy, the members' hearts beat faster and what counts is the emotion. But for this true spectacle to enter the scene, behind the smokescreen of the fireworks, there is a veritable battalion of joy: they are seamstresses, props, wing and harmony directors, plot researcher and a multitude of professionals who ensure that everything is perfect at the time of the parade.
AMORIM, M.; MACEDO, G. The backstage spectacle. Carnival Magazine 2010: Hose. Rio de Janeiro: Estação Primeira de Mangueira, 2010.
Both texts exalt the brilliance, beauty, tradition and commitment of the directors and all members with the Estação Primeira de Mangueira samba school. One of the differences that is established between the texts is that
a) the journalistic article fulfills the function of transmitting emotions and sensations, more than the lyrics.
b) the music lyrics privilege the social function of communicating to its audience the criticism in relation to samba and samba dancers.
c) the poetic language, in Text I, values metaphorical images and the school itself, while the language, in Text II, fulfills the function of informing and involving the reader.
d) by associating pink emeralds with the school's colors, Text I sparks rivalry between samba schools, while Text II is neutral.
e) Text I suggests the material wealth of Mangueira, while Text II highlights the work at the samba school.
Resolution
Alternative C.
In Text I, it is possible to point out metaphorical images, such as “ground of emeralds”, “rain of roses” and “turning weather vane”, in addition to the appreciation of the samba school. Text II, on the other hand, is utilitarian, not literary and informative, but uses subjective elements to engage the reader, such as: “the heart of the components beats harder”.
by Warley Souza
Literature teacher
