Alien and Degenerate Milk: Embodiment, Mapping, and Social Identity in Four Nursing Metaphors

Abstract

Using cognitive metaphor theory to examine the four NT nursing metaphors (1 Thess 2:5–9; 1 Cor 3:1–3; Heb 5:11–14; 1 Pet 2:1–3), this article demonstrates that the same nursing frame can be used quite differently. The work of separating the contributions of each input space and then running the blend demonstrates how each metaphor functions and, in 1 Corinthians 3 specifically, the overlaps and gaps that arise in the analysis explain previous discrepant interpretations as well as a new way forward. The nursing frame itself incorporates many different primary metaphors grounded in embodied experiences, but not all of these are activated in every metaphor. Each analysis concludes by pointing out its focus on specific blends and suggests the purpose of this focus through the use of social identity theory.

Keywords

• cognitive metaphor theory
• nursing
• social identity theory
• mother
• wet nurse
• breastfeeding