Metaphors
A Step Deeper
Since you have a strong enough interest in metaphors to go a step deeper, let's ponder key aspects non-literal comparisons (including metaphors, similes, and analogies) as used in Country-Western lyrics.
Even if you don't fancy country music, western music, or the fusion that is country-western music, you've likely heard the work of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, or Loretta Lynn. Moreover, either subtly or overtly you've noticed metaphors within the lyrics. Let's examine a couple of examples.
If you listen to many country-western lyrics, it won't take long to discover some non-literal comparisons. Let's look at one:
I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail
Well, every night, you drag me where the bright lights are found
There ain't no way to slow you down
I'm as 'bout as helpless as a, a leaf in a gale
And it looks like I've got a tiger by the tail
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
1964
We can suspect that Buck Owens and his band never had a literal tiger by the tail. Moreover, his feeling of helplessness (i.e., “leaf in a gale“) seems to have little to do with the tiger reference. Nonetheless, by using a weak leaf and a wild tiger, the song lyric takes us to a specific conceptual spot. Only deep long struggle by conventional language descriptions might have come close to accomplishing those themes of extreme weakness and wild danger. A long struggle that would have made the song three times as long, even if you cut the guitar solo and chorus repetition. Check!
So, if the Himalayas as a geographic area got a false reputation via novels, news, and movies (public messages), and a resident from a country in that mountain range was inspired to join armed resistance by a novel (public message) about a civil war in a European country written by an American author who acted as a correspondent during that war (public messages), perhaps we can see from several vantages the potent power of public messages to inform, inspire, and change us.
How have public messages influenced or directed your life? Will that influence and direction eventually find you creating public messages to influence others? Hope so.
You've gone a step deeper into pertinent questions about public messages, if you'd like to go much deeper the following resources will act as good guides.
Explore Sources
Alexander, Jonathan and Jacqueline Rhodes, eds. Sexual Rhetorics. Routledge, 2017.
Buchanan, Rebekah J. Writing a Riot: Riot Grrl Zines and Feminist Rhetorics. Peter Lang, 2018.
Campbell, Karlyn Kohrs. Man Cannot Speak for Her. Praeger, 1989.
Cisneros, Josue David. The Border Crossed Us: Rhetorics of Borders, Citizenship, and Latina/o Identity. University Alabama Press, 2014.
Crick, Nathan, ed. The Rhetoric of Social Movements: Networks, Power, and New Media. Routledge, 2020.
DeChaine, D. Robert, ed. Border Rhetorics: Citizenship and Identity on the US-Mexico Frontier. University Alabama Press, 2012.
DeLuca, Kevin Michael. Image Politics: The New Rhetoric of Environmental Activism. Routledge, 2012.
Edgar, Amanda and Andre E. Johnson. The Struggle over Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter. Lexington Books, 2018.
Goldthwaite, Melissa A., ed. Food, Feminisms Rhetorics. SIU Press, 2017.
Johnson, Janet. Political Rhetoric, Social Media, and American Presidential Campaigns: Candidates’ Use of New Media. Lexington Books, 2020.
Martin, James. Politics and Rhetoric: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, 2014.
McCloskey, Deirdre N. The Rhetoric of Economics. 2nd ed. Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1998.
Pierce, Dann L. Rhetorical Criticism and Theory in Practice. 4th ed. River Kishon, 2019.
Rowland, Robert C. The Rhetoric of Donald Trump: Nationalist Populism and American Democracy. Univ. Press of Kansas, 2021.
Van Meter, Jan R. Tippecanoe and Tyler Too: Famous Slogans and Catchphrases in American History. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2008.
Whalen-Bridge, John. Tibet on Fire: Buddhism, Protest, and the Rhetoric of Self-Immolation. Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
Knowing how public persuasive messages are designed, constructed, built, and arranged can add much to your understanding of cultural persuasion. Learn more by clicking here:
