Symbolic metaphors in f. Durrenmatt’s "The Minotaur" within mythological, postmodern and existentialist contexts

The metaphorical symbolization of the Labyrinth image

The image of the labyrinth is a universal cultural archetype, symbolizing the structure of the universe, the cycle of life, the idea of eternal return, endless searching, and initiation. In postmodern literature, the labyrinth, destined “to be deciphered by men” [Borges, 1999, p. 35], becomes a metaphor for the chaos of life and the loss of human orientation and meaning, with the mirror labyrinth being a representation of postmodern reality, as it symbolically signifies the disorientation of human consciousness.

This symbolic metaphor is particularly defining in the hermeneutic code of Borges' stories like “The Library of Babel”, [2000], “The Garden of Forking Paths” [2018] and Umberto Eco's novel “The Name of the Rose” [1983]. Both Eco and Borges associate the imagery of labyrinths with libraries or repositories of books as symbols of cosmic order.

In Durrenmatt's work, the labyrinth serves as a symbolic metaphor; however, the labyrinth model in the Minotaur does not fit into the classifications of labyrinths outlined by Umberto Eco in his “Notes on 'The Name of the Rose'”: The Greek labyrinth of Theseus, where all paths lead to the centre; the mannerist labyrinth with a single path leading to the exit; and the rhizomatic labyrinth, characterized by the ability to connect any point with any other point, even if those connections have not been established yet, and it lacks both a centre and an outside [Eco, 1983, p. 81].

On one hand, the mythological characters in the ballad - Minotaur, Theseus, Ariadne - serve as intertextual references to the labyrinth of Theseus. On the other hand, in “The Minotaur”, the gates of the labyrinth are open, and due to the mirrored walls of the labyrinth, the structure of such a labyrinth with infinite multiplication of mirrored images becomes boundless, depriving it of structure and thereby associating it with the rhizomatic labyrinth.

The infinity and hopelessness of such a labyrinth resonate with the postmodernist interpretation, with its characterization as “a sign of the labyrinth of the world” into which “You enter and you do not know whether you will come out” [Eco, 1983, p. 158] and which “promises the infinite” [Borges, 1964, 78].

This labyrinth serves an ambivalent protective function - protecting the world from the Minotaur and the Minotaur from the world: the Minotaur is confined in the labyrinth to protect people from the creature and the creature from people: um die Menschen vor dem Wesen und das Wesen vor den Menschen zu schutzen; es seinetwegen das Labyrinth gab, und das nur, weil er geboren worden war, weil es ein Wesen wie ihn nicht geben durfte, der Grenze willen, die zwi- schen Tier und Mensch und Mensch und den Gottern gesetzt worden ist, damit die Welt in Ord- nung bleibe undnicht zum Labyrinth werde und damit ins Chaos zuruckfalle, aus dem sie entstan- den war To protect the people from the creature and the creature from the people; the labyrinth existed because of him, and that only because he had been born, because a being like him was not supposed to exist, for the sake of the boundary that had been set between animal and human, and human and the gods, so that the world would remain in order and not become a labyrinth, and so it would not revert to the chaos from which it had emerged..

A commonality between Eco's and Durrenmatt's conception of the labyrinth lies in the fact that the labyrinth-enigma is subject to destruction. The solution to the mirror labyrinth for the Minotaur becomes the realization and acceptance of its essence and distinction from humans. As a result, he shatters the mirrors - not to escape the labyrinth, but to release his new essence, to break the illusion that the world and the images in the mirrors are friendly and open to love and friendship. Thus, akin to the postmodern interpretation of the labyrinth, the Minotaur's journey is a search for self.

The labyrinth in this sense becomes a symbolic metaphor for consciousness-self-awareness, it embodies the irresolvable, inescapable antinomies, much like the rhizomatic labyrinth - trust and betrayal, innocence and deception, life and death, pleasure and pain, harmony and chaos, all of which define the symbolic code of the text. In the hermeneutic code of the novel, the irresolvability of these contradictions is linked to the target space of another metaphor - the Labyrinth as the Other-the Human. Human attributes are associated with the right side of the antinomies - deceit, betrayal, pain, death, and chaos, forming the architectural space of the target space of the metaphor and supported by the connotations of the semantic code - bewilderment, distrust, and misunderstanding: Er war verwirrt; Er begriff nicht He was confused; he did not understand..

Thus, the symbolic metaphor of the labyrinth is polycomponent and polysemantic, including one input source space and multiple target spaces - Refuge, the Other, Self-Discovery/Path to Self. The generic space of the fundamental symbolic metaphor “Labyrinth is the Other” involves common attributes of the input spaces such as:

(1) complexity, ambiguity, and unpredictability in interacting with humans, understanding their actions - akin to a labyrinth where multiple paths can confuse, as well as a sense of loss and uncertainty: Er begriff nicht; Er fuhlte nur, dafi dieses Wesen, das ihn angesprungen und etwas in seinen Leib gestofien hatte, ihn nicht liebte he did not understand; he only felt that this being, which had pounced on him and thrust something into his body, did not love him.. Such characteristics of the generic space are revealed, in particular, in the metaphorical description of the dance in the Minotaur's labyrinth with the girl, involving interactions between oppositions such as beauty and ugliness, joy and fear, attraction and repulsion: Er tanzte seine Ungestalt, es tanzte seine Schonheit, er tanzte seine Freude, es gefunden zu haben, es tanzte seine Furcht, von ihm gefunden worden zu sein, er tanzte sein Herandrangen, und es tanzte sein Abdrangen He danced his deformity, she danced her beauty, he danced his joy at finding it, she danced her fear of being found by him, he danced his approach, and she danced its retreat.,

(2) an attempt to overcome differences and find common ground (Minotaur's dances), associated with the crossing of labyrinth boundaries.

The metaphor “Labyrinth - Path to Self” is marked by nominations such as Erleuchtung, Mi- notaureneinsicht, sich selber sich gegenuberbefand Enlightenment, Minotaur's insight, finding himself face to face with himself.. The space of common features from the input spaces involves seeking and discovering of one's essence: Er spurte, dafi es nicht viele Mino- tauren gab, sondern nur einen Minotaurus, dafi es nur ein Wesen gab, wie er eines war, ein an- deres nicht vor ihm und ein anderes nicht nach ihm, dafi er der Vereinzelte war, und wie er das spurte, als ein Fuhlen ohne Begreifen, als eine Erleuchtung ohne Erkennen, nicht als eine Men- scheneinsicht durch Begriffe, sondern als eine Minotaureneinsicht durch Bilder und durch Gefuh- le; traumte der Minotaurus, er sei ein Mensch He sensed that there were not many Minotaurs, but only one Minotaur, that there was only one being like him, no other before him and no other after him, that he was the unique one. And as he felt this, as a sensation without comprehension, as an enlightenment without recognition, not as a human insight through concepts, but as a Minotaur's insight through images and feelings; the Minotaur dreamed he was a human..

The common attributes of the target and source spaces in the metaphor Labyrinth-Refuge includes safety, and protection, isolation from the threatening external world.

In the blended space, the selected characteristics of the generic spaces are projected onto the hermeneutic code of the ballad: for the Minotaur, the labyrinth serves as a Refuge from the Other-Human, which is threatening in its unpredictability, does not respond to the dance-communication, responds with a dance that brings death and pain, and prompts the search for Self as distinct from this Other.

Being a space of initiation and self-discovery, the symbolic metaphor of the labyrinth is associated with Kierkegaard's idea of the enigmatic nature (labyrinthine nature) of self [Kierkegaard, 1992, p. 479-480] as well as with the concept of self-search, encountering oneself in mirrors in the existentialist transition from existence to essence when, in the words of Sartre, “Man first (...) encounters himself” and “defines himself afterward” [Sartre, 1973, p. 28].

The search for oneself is associated with existentialist concepts of anxiety, fear, and despair, creating constant connotations in the semantic code: mit der Traurigkeit der Minotaurus; furchtete er; um sich nicht zu furchten, setzte er seiner Furcht den Stolz entgegen With the sadness of the Minotaur; he was afraid; to avoid being afraid, he countered his fear with pride..

The archetypal motif of the labyrinth is also connected with an existential concept like absurdity, relying on the symbolic code of oppositions that are irresolvable for the Minotaur. Overcoming them in the actional code of the ballad is linked to attempting to destroy the Other (killing humans) and the labyrinth itself.

Thus, Durrenmatt's reinterpretation of the labyrinth image involves three levels of metaphorical symbolism.

At the first level, the primary meaning of the labyrinth as an archetypal symbol - representing the world, the universe, eternity, and infinity - is utilized.

At the second level, the target space of the metaphor is reimagined while retaining implications consistently associated with the original space (the labyrinth) and simultaneously using fixed symbolic correlates existing in postmodernist literature.

On the third level, the image is reinterpreted - a new dimension is introduced into the symbolic metaphor, specifically, introducing chaos into the Minotaur's labyrinth in the form of the Other-Human, with a metonymic transfer of characteristics of labyrinthine chaos onto this Other in the metaphor “the labyrinth is the Other”.

Conclusions

The symbolic metaphors in Durrenmatt's ballad are polycomponential, since in each of them a source space - of the labyrinth, mirrors, and the Minotaur, coordinates with multiple target spaces. The archetypal image of the labyrinth is metaphorically reinterpreted by Durenmatt as “refuge”, “other”, and “self-discovery”.

The image of the Minotaur becomes a metaphor for “loneliness” and the “mirror of Man”. The image of the Mirror is metaphorized as the Universe of the Minotaur and a “threshold”, signifying both the boundary between the world of the Minotaur and the external world, and between the animal and human elements. Metaphors form the basis of the motives of the hermeneutic code of the text, as well as contribute to the enrichment of connotations of the semantic code and the actualization of oppositions of the symbolic code.

In the reinterpretation of the ballad, metaphors maintain allusive connections both with mythological images and with models of metaphorical symbolism in postmodernism - in continuity with the postmodernist interpretation of the labyrinth as a metaphor for chaos, loss of meaning, disorientation, and the destruction of the deciphered labyrinth; in the rethinking of the image of mirrors as a metaphor for infinity, the antithesis to loneliness, and the Universe as a mirrored illusion, as well as in establishing a correlative connection between the images of the mirror and the labyrinth in the symbolic metaphor of the Mirror-Labyrinth; in the reinterpretation of the image of the Minotaur in postmodernism as the encounter of a person with his beastly essence.

From an existentialist perspective, the interpretation of metaphors in the ballad is associated with the idea of the labyrinthine nature of the Self, the encounter with oneself, which Durrenmatt reimagines as the encounter of the Minotaur in mirrors with his human nature. It also relates to the concept of transitioning from existence to essence, with existentialist notions of anxiety, fear, and despair that accompany such a transition.

It delves into concepts like “Self” and the “Other” and “The Other and the Look”, where one experiences themselves through the gaze of the Other, as well as the inevitability of conflict and guilt that arise when the Self meets the Other.

A promising avenue for further research would be to analyze the continuity of symbolic metaphors in other works by the author.

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Abstract

Symbolic metaphors in durrenmatt's “the minotaur” within mythological, postmodern and existentialist contexts

Nataliia N. Kravchenko, The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

Mariia M. Prokopchuk, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (Ukraine)

The research aims to interpret the symbolic metaphors in the ballad "Minotaur" with a focus on the commonalities and differences in their interpretation by Durrenmatt in relation to mythological, postmodernist, and existential-philosophical traditions. This is achieved through the application of intertextual, structural-semiotic, and hermeneutical methods of literary analysis in conjunction with linguistic methods such as conceptual blending and the method of interactive theory of metaphor. The metaphors of Labyrinth, Mirrors, and Minotaur, which are polycomponential and polysemantic, with one source space and multiple target spaces, contribute to the hermeneutic, symbolic, and semantic codes of the text. The Labyrinth metaphor includes target spaces of "refuge", "other", and "self-discovery"; Mirrors - the Universe of the Minotaur and the "threshold" - a polysemantic metaphor, interpreted in the hermeneutic code as the boundary between the world of the Minotaur and the outer world and between the animal and human elements. The image of the Minotaur is projected into the target space of "loneliness" and the “mirror of Man”.

The blended spaces of all the metaphors form the hermeneutic code of the text, which is supported by the semantic code and the symbolic code of oppositions. For the “labyrinth" metaphors, the semantic metaphorical periphery includes, depending on the target space, connotations of “happiness", “harmony", “friendliness", “interconnectedness", and “bewilderment", “distrust", “misunderstanding". The “Mirrors" metaphors involve connotations of infinity, timelessness, vastness, associated with the target space of the Universe, and “danger", “cruelty", “death", “fear", which intensify the target space of the Threshold. The semantic periphery of the “Minotaur is Loneliness" metaphor is reinforced by connotations like “prison", “inevitability", “abandonment", “betrayal", “fear", “disappointment".

In the symbolic code, the “labyrinth" metaphor unfolds in oppositions such as “trust and betrayal", “life and death", “pleasure and pain", “harmony and chaos", the insolubility of which is associated with the rhizomatic labyrinth. The “Mirror-Threshold" metaphor is associated with oppositions like self - other, human - animal (with role reversal: the animalistic element in a human teaches the animal to be a beast), commonality - otherness. The symbolic code associated with the “Minotaur is Loneliness" and “Minotaur is the Mirror of Man" metaphors is based on oppositions of naivety, trust, friendliness, and kindness, which characterize the Minotaur-animal before his encounter with a human, and murder, cruelty, and betrayal, which distinguish humans. These oppositions encode the hermeneutic code of the text: Minotaur - the negation of the animal element vs. Man - the negation of the human element in the Minotaur.

Reinterpreted in the ballad, the metaphors maintain an allusive connection with mythological archetypes and metaphorical symbolism in postmodernism. In the metaphor of the labyrinth, the mythological symbolism draws on the archetypal image of the labyrinth as a structure of the universe, a cycle of life, the idea of eternal return, and initiation. The postmodern tradition is evident in the interpretation of the labyrinth as a metaphor for chaos, loss of meaning, and disorientation, with the destruction of the deciphered labyrinth. From an existential perspective, the metaphor is interpreted in the ballad in connection with the concepts of the labyrinthine nature of Self, encounters with oneself, the transition from existence to essence, and the anxiety, fear, and despair accompanying such a transition.

The metaphor of the mirror in the ballad, in accordance with the postmodern tradition, combines with the archetypal image of the labyrinth in dual symbolic and metaphorical relationships: Mirror - Another world, Mirror - Labyrinth as a metaphor for an otherworldly realm that draws one into the labyrinth. Reminiscences of postmodernism include the images of labyrinthine mirrors as metaphors for infinity, the universe as a mirrored illusion, and as antitheses to loneliness, when the mirrors are populated by beings.

The archetype of the Minotaur allusively intersects with ancient Greek mythology and its postmodernism reinterpretations as the encounter of a person with his beastly essence, as well as with existentialist ideas of “Self" and the “Other", “The Other and the Look", and the inevitability of conflict and guilt that arise when the Self encounters the Other: when confronted with the Other-Human, the innocent Minotaur becomes guilty solely because he exists.

Key words: symbolic metaphor, conceptual integration, postmodernism, narrative-semiotic codes, myth, existentialism.

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