“An Abstract Model of Conjecturality”

This article addresses some of the problems of meaning that arise when authors use labyrinths – and mazes, too, although to a lesser extent – as metaphors. To this end, it explores the considerable corpus of information prerequisite for a fuller understanding of the metaphorical potential of labyrinths and mazes. An absence of a terminology to distinguish labyrinths from mazes contributes further to the problem as does the manner in which labyrinths and mazes are defined in dictionaries and other reference works, leading to the erroneous assumption that the words “labyrinth” and “maze” are synonyms. The way in which authors are inclined to assume that there is only one essential form of labyrinth, when, in fact, there are several, aggravates the problem just as much as the assumption that the words “labyrinth” and “maze” are synonyms. Unravelling these issues is important because they affect the meaning and understanding readers derive from the authors’ use of such metaphors

Epistemology · Linguistics · Literal and figurative language · Metaphor · Terminology · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Literary Analysis and Cultural Studies · Philosophy

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