Discontinuity of temporal experience in Emily Dickinson revisited
- DOI
- 10.5922/vestnikpsy-2026-3-4
- Pages
- 39-47
Abstract
The article examines the specificity of the artistic explication of the discrete nature of temporal experience in the works of Emily Dickinson (1830—1886). Drawing on the analytical framework of conceptual metaphor theory, which models the process of metaphorization as the transfer of properties from a concrete domain of knowledge to an abstract one, the study conducts a linguo-cognitive analysis of the image of “objectified” time, which in Dickinson’s poetry is characterized by a unique, idiosyncratic form of expression. The peculiarities of the artistic perception of the temporal fabric of existence as a combination of separate, isolated units are examined through the analysis of the poems “Of this is Day composed,” “I measure every Grief I meet,” “The Pile of Years is not so high,” and “Forever is composed of Nows,” which serve as vivid examples of the author’s individual perception of the complex and contradictory nature of time. The study identifies the key metaphorical models that constitute the cognitive foundation of the “object” images of time — the conventional metaphor TIME IS A SUBSTANCE and the authorial metaphor TIME IS A PILE OF YEARS. The linguistic realizations of these models are analyzed, revealing the close interconnection between the lyrical speaker’s temporal experience and their psychological state. It is demonstrated that the perception of time as discrete or, conversely, continuous depends on such fundamental yet diverse phenomena of the mental sphere as memory and emotions. The study concludes that object metaphors of time reflect the dual, ambivalent nature of temporal experience, in which discreteness and continuity are not opposed to each other but are inextricably linked within a single dynamic whole.