"Der Tarantino der Townships" – kulturelle Dimensionen metaphorischer Eigennamenverwendungen

Abstract

In their primary use names are inherently defi nite, but they also have various secondary uses where this inherent defi niteness is lost. One such use is to identify an individual or place having relevant properties of the bearer of another name (e.g. We make Singapore Boston of the East or Paul Grootboom is the Tarantino of the townships). The examples make sense only if we know the source referents (Boston and Tarantino) and then establish a metaphorical relationship with the target referents (Singapore and Paul Grootboom). Thus, names are used as an economical way of referring to the transferred properties which are associated with the name bearer. Metaphors in general are selective and highlight particular aspects of the source and target referents while hiding others. Based on a survey including examples from multiple sources and informants with diff erent backgrounds, I want to explore some of the issues that metaphorically used names raise. In particular, I show that a cultural dimension is refl ected a) in the use of local or non-local source referents and b) in the knowledge about the source referent that is evoked in a given discourse context.