Theatrum Historiae. The Metaphors of J. A. Comenius’ Historical Theory and Narration and their Empirical Context

0568207 - FLÚ 2023 RIV CZ eng J - Journal Article
Řezníková, Lenka
Theatrum Historiae. The Metaphors of J. A. Comenius’ Historical Theory and Narration and their Empirical Context.
Acta Comeniana. -, 35/59 (2021), s. 9-33. ISSN 0231-5955
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA20-11795S
Institutional support: RVO:67985955
Keywords : Johannes Amos Comenius * metaphors * history of historiography * 17th century * intellectual history * early modern cultures of knowledge * theatre * light
OECD category: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)
Method of publishing: Metadata only
https://filosofia.flu.cas.cz/upload/__files/AC35_obsah.pdf

This study focuses on several metaphors used by Comenius when discussing history. The first part discusses Comenius’ theory of metaphor. Unlike many noted critics who have dismissed metaphor for its susceptibility to inaccuracies, Comenius advises caution when using this linguistic tool but accepts it. As a theologian, he highly values the metaphorical language of the Bible and its explicatory power. In his rhetorical and philological texts, he adheres to the classical substitution theory of metaphor. However, several (and mainly) Pansophic texts bring up also its cognitive potential. The second part moves from Comenius’ theory to his practice in his historical and metahistorical writings. While in his historical writings he includes common narrative metaphors, in his metahistorical texts, he applies conceptual metaphors that help him to grasp his ideas about the nature and properties of history and historical processes. Coming from the domain of theatre, astrology, theory of vision, optics, and the physics of light, these metaphors present history as something that could be seen and physically experienced. The source domains from which Comenius derives his metaphors refer to fundamental empirical principles dominating seventeenth-century epistemology. By creating these metaphors, history came into lexical proximity with natural philosophy and the discourse of the natural sciences.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0340219