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[Full title: Folk Orality (1) Metonymy and Metaphor]

According to the linguist Roman Jakobson, metonymy and metaphor are the two fundamental modes of communicating meaning. Metonymy is a substitution of the name of an attribute for that of the thing meant (for example, 鈥榗rown鈥� for 鈥�queen鈥�). Jakobson also includes under the heading of metonymy the term synecdoche鈥搕hat is, the use of a part standing for the whole (for example, the 鈥榮ail鈥� for the sailing ship). In film, metonymy can be applied to an object that is visibly present but which represents another object or subject to which it is related but which is absent (Hayward: 2000: 228). Metaphor is literally, the transference or application of a name or descriptive term to an object to which it is not in fact applicable. The metaphor then substitutes the known for the unknown, or rather it communicates the unknown by transferring it into terms of the known. In film, metaphor applies when there are two consecutive shots and the second one functions in a comparative way with the first (Hayward: 2000: 229).

Dr. Bhabendra Nath Saikia was a storyteller par excellence. Therefore he employed metonymy and metaphor to a considerable extent in his films. Though not directly proportional, yet proverbs and riddles of oral literature are certain forms of metonymic and metaphoric communication. For example, in Sandhyarag, Saru was a domestic help working in a well to do family. After cooking a meal for the family and serving extra portions to a sudden guest, Saru did not have a proper share of fish to eat for lunch. However she was content with the leftover food, which contained only some pieces of fish bones. As such, the dissolving shot of a fish bone into the moon indicating lost dreams of Saru in Sandhyarag is a brilliant metaphor employed by the filmmaker. This metaphor was once again used in the sequence where after a grand dinner being cooked by Saru and Toru for the special guests in a village function, they along with their mother Putali are left with no food to eat. Saru serves a fistful of rice to Putali on a piece of banana leaf. The camera moves towards the food for a close shot, and the fish bone again appears on the screen. Apart from representing the pain and anguish of the three women through the emptiness of food vessels, the filmmaker has made intelligent use of the fish bone in the film, even if repeatedly.

Dr. Saikia has also used metaphorical phrases in most of his films, which has sometimes even led to overpowering the filmmaker by the storyteller. Apart from these, small folk phrases have been employed in some films as metaphors. For instance, in Anirban, when the childless couple lost their newborns one after another, the husband takes every care to ensure the safety of his pregnant wife. While doing so he desires to be conscious about everything and hence murmures 鈥�xabodhanor maar nai鈥� meaning 鈥榯he careful doesn鈥檛 lose鈥�. 鈥�Xabodhanor maar nai鈥� is a popular saying in Assamese households and mostly used as a phrase of advice.

Similarly, in Itihaas, there is a sequence where Lakhimi faces her beloved Madhu after being abused by one of her employers. She believed that Madhu would understand her plight and utter a word of comfort. Instead Madhu termed her as 鈥�ekei gosor paan鈥� meaning 鈥榣eaves of the same betel leaf plant鈥�. It is worth mentioning that Lakhimi鈥檚 younger sister had eloped with a construction overseer, which was considered as a stigmatized act by the society. Therefore, Madhu termed Lakhimi to be 鈥榣eaves of the same betel leaf plant鈥� he threw a splash of mud on her sanctity. Phrases like this are commonly used in Assam generally to demean a person.