Nicolae Babuts 
Literature and the Metaphoric Universe in the Mind 

Nicolae Babuts believes that the study of metaphoric thought and literature can be enriched by the application of recent discoveries from neuroscientifi c experiments. He maintains that metaphors are neither linguistic formations nor conceptual formations, but instead the product of association of images and language. They are a matter of vision.

Memory is an essential component in the creation of meaning and is the way the mind receives messages from the outside world. In this process of transferring data from the outside world, the mind’s overriding tendency is to integrate and interpret. Thus, incoming messages are recognized and given meaning whether they are in harmony with the inner world of the mind or in confl ict with it.

Babuts argues that the literature we read is related to our perception of reality. And reality has two identities: the physical identity of the outside world and its symbolic identity within memory. The symbolic identity of the outside world is represented internally by the metaphoric universe in the mind.

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Nicolae Babuts is emeritus professor of French at Syracuse University and author of Mimesis in a Cognitive Perspective and Memory, Metaphors, and Meaning, both published by Transaction, as well as other important books and articles.