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“Madness”: The Metaphor to Imply Multiple Meanings and its Significance in A Question of Power

Yan Li

Abstract


Since its access to the literary circle, “madness”, with its abundant metaphorical meanings, has become the most prevalent tool for criticism adopted by writers of the world. It seems that all conflicts in the works can be solved when “the illusion of a mad would be pushed to the truth”. Bessie Head, a female writer, born in South Africa but exiled in Botswana where she finally got the citizenship, wrote about her torturing experiences in South Africa as a “Colored” by depicting the experiences of a mad girl named Elizabeth, who actually was the writer herself, and whose madness was metaphorically adopted to signify all the horrible reality of her life. “Madness” is but an aesthetic perspective of the author for the limitless meaning of “madness” can signify.


Keywords


Madness; Symbol; Metaphor; The Signified; A Question of Power

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18686/ahe.v3i2.1419

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