Professor Greg Schmidt Goering Delivers Colloquium on Metaphors in Proverbs
On Monday, November 10, Jewish Studies Professor Greg Schmidt Goering (Religious Studies) gave a presentation entitled “Fountains, Reservoirs, and Flowing Streams: Conceptual Metaphors for Speaking in Proverbs,” examining how water-related metaphors are used to represent speech in the book of Proverbs. These metaphors, including water being drawn up from a well, coming out of a fountain, and flowing as a stream, depict speech as more than just an intellectual transfer of ideas, but also as an embodied practice that shapes the full being of those who hear it. The presentation drew from Professor Goering's book manuscript, Wisdom in the Flesh: Disciplining the Senses and Forming the Self in the Book of Proverbs. Following the presentation, faculty and students engaged in a lively discussion about the nature of metaphor in language and the varied approaches to translating poetic wisdom literature like Proverbs.