Train metaphor in the blues: Attributive characteristics of the genre and a means of time mythologization
Authors:   Lipetsk State Technical University, Ivanov Andrey G. ,   Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Published: November 2024

The article shares the cognitive approach to metaphor and shows its connection with the theory of basic (root) metaphors of S. Pepper, with the metaphor of the path, with the monomyph of J. Campbell. The author, based on the assumption that the basic (root) metaphors can be associated with archetypal mythological plots, considers the train metaphor as one of the derivatives of the path metaphor, correlating with the journey of the mythological hero. A concrete example shows how the train metaphor becomes temporal: in the course of its evolution, the train metaphor, initially associated mainly with the dynamic aspect, with movement, with the development of new spaces, is filled with a deeper – existential – meaning, reflecting, on the one hand, the acceleration of time, on the other – mythologizing processes characterized by the temporal unity of time modes. The interrelational approach to myth proposed by С. Bottici allows us to consider metaphor as a means of time mythologization. The metaphor turns out to be the most appropriate device to demonstrate, in the language of object-oriented ontology, “access to reality” and the existential essence of the hero. The blues genre is considered as an organic unity of music and text, in which metaphors play a significant role. The prevalence of the use of metaphors in the blues is due in part to the fact that the blues is often a so-called free narrative, in which the narrator integrates the objects around him into one storyline, combining them according to common or overlapping features, and the blues itself turns out to be the treasure that the hero finds. Blues enriches the so-called “work on the myth”, giving a new sound to the well-known mythological motifs and plots, and metaphors turn out to be a fruitful source and tool for time mythologization. Attention was drawn to the concept of “life path”, considered as a kind of transformation of a mythological hero’s journey: the original blues theme is based on the sensual social component of the life of the African-American population, its difficulties and obstacles. Further, including under the influence of new media, we can see a change in the essential characteristics of the concept of “life path”. Of particular interest here is the period of the 1960s and 70s, when blues-rock appears, and the metaphor of the train is filled with a new meaning associated with the search for freedom in the conditions of the formation of a post-industrial society, with an escape from civilization, with a return to the roots. Fragments of the lyrics of blues songs and examples from the history of the blues are given, confirming how important is the train and the metaphors built around this phenomenon as attributive characteristics of the genre. It is concluded that the metaphor used in music demonstrates the vitality of the myth, has cognitive significance, and the evolution of even one particular metaphor also reflects the development of the individual and society.