METAPHORICAL CONCEPTUALIZATION OF TRAVEL NARRATIVE IN KULYK KEEFER’S MEMOIR HONEY AND ASHES

What is it about?

This paper explores the metaphorical conceptualization of travel narratives in Janice Kulyk Keefer’s memoir Honey and Ashes, employing cognitive-linguistic tools to analyze how the author’s physical journey mirrors an interior exploration of identity, belonging, and heritage. It applies the framework of Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory and conceptual integration (or blending) theory (as developed by Fauconnier and Turner) to the analysis of the interplay between the source domain of travel and the target domain of narrative. The analysis reveals that Keefer’s journey—spanning from Canada to her ancestral village in Ukraine—serves as a metaphorical bridge between past and present, with the memoir’s structure reflecting the cognitive processes of memory and self-discovery. Key conceptual mappings include the traveler as narrator, the road map as stories, and destinations as chapters, illustrating how the metaphor “NARRATIVE IS TRAVEL” shapes the text’s meaning. The study highlights Keefer’s dual role as both observer and subject, as she grapples with questions of cultural identity and belonging. Through contextual and interpretative analysis, the article demonstrates how metaphorical expressions in the memoir activate deeper cognitive structures, enabling readers to construct coherent mental models of the narrative.

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Why is it important?

Honey and Ashes reaffirms the centrality of metaphor in shaping narrative comprehension and emotional resonance, offering a compelling case study for cognitive narratology. In the future, it would be relevant to explore how visual or auditory elements (specifically photographs and maps) in memoirs interact with conceptual metaphors.