Gustatory metaphors and comparisons in Veljko Barbieri's novel epitaph of the imperial gourmand

Abstract

The novel Epitaph of the Imperial Gourmand is one of the first dystopian novels in Croatian literature. It is written in the form of a satirical diary, and the author, using various genres of gastronomic literary tradition, creates an atmosphere of hopelessness, powerlessness and absolute control of the government. The Ministry of Public Order and Morality supervises, prosecutes and bans the purchase of groceries and cooking for a clerk in a paper factory. The clerk, main character, deals the last blow to the authorities by committing suicide by consuming the most delicious poisonous dish prepared by the recipe of a famous Roman chef of similar destiny. In this way, Barbieri sends us a message about the inalienability of freedom of choice, but also about the timelessness, spacelessness and ubiquity of repressive societies. The topic of the paper are gustatory metaphors and comparisons, the mechanisms of their origin and their function in the novel. Metaphors are studied following Lakoff's and Johnson's theory of conceptual metaphors. Since metaphors are the basis of comparisons, it was necessary to include them in the research. The focus is on lexical variations of metaphors and comparisons in relation to the standard forms that Barbieri uses as a means of emphasizing pleasure and opposing the (gastronomic) uniformity of the regime at the language level.

Keywords

• conceptual metaphors
• comparison
• comparative idioms
• gustatory metaphors
• dystopia