Metaphor and the Communicative Mind (original) (raw)

The contemporary theory of metaphor--now new and improved!

This paper outlines a multi-dimensional/multi-disciplinary framework for the study of metaphor. It expands on the cognitive linguistic approach to metaphor in language and thought by adding the dimension of communication, and it expands on the predominantly linguistic and psychological approaches by adding the discipline of social science. This creates a map of the field in which nine main areas of research can be distinguished and connected to each other in precise ways. It allows for renewed attention to the deliberate use of metaphor in communication, in contrast with non-deliberate use, and asks the question whether the interaction between deliberate and non-deliberate use of metaphor in specific social domains can contribute to an explanation of the discourse career of metaphor. The suggestion is made that metaphorical models in language, thought, and communication can be classified as official, contested, implicit, and emerging, which may offer new perspectives on the interaction between social, psychological, and linguistic properties and functions of metaphor in discourse. Keywords: metaphor, language, thought, communication, linguistics, psychology, social science

Text, Context and Cognitive Metaphor

When approaching the question of the relationship between metaphor and discourse, we could say that in Cognitive Metaphor Theory (hereafter CMT), there are there are two basic tendencies. The first works within a perspective that views basic level metaphors as structuring mechanisms in the understanding and representation of the world; in other words, it could be claimed that conceptual metaphors motivate subsequent language use. The second operates from a different, apparently opposite, perspective which views the speaker's communicative intention as the trigger of the metaphorical framework selected to interpret the world; in other words, it could be claimed instead that language use motivates metaphorical conceptualization. At any rate, irregardless of the theoretical perspective adopted, most of the research in CMT has focused on the the cognitive side of this relation rather than on the language side. Steen (2002:386) comments on this point as follows:

The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor 1

Traditionally regarded as a mere figure of speech, metaphor has emerged as a focal point of scholarly inquiry within contemporary theoretical frameworks, reflecting its profound significance in understanding human cognition and communication. This paper undertakes a comprehensive investigation into the evolution of metaphor theory, tracing its development from classical perspectives to modern interpretations that underscore its integral role in shaping thought processes. We specifically highlight key contemporary approaches, including Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), which posits that metaphors are not merely linguistic constructs but fundamental cognitive mechanisms that influence our perception and interaction with the world. Additionally, we explore the Dynamic Systems Theory of Metaphor, which offers a nuanced understanding of metaphor as a fluid and contextdependent phenomenon, responsive to the dynamics of social interaction. Furthermore, we examine the relevance of metaphor within the realms of cognitive linguistics, social interaction, and communication, illustrating how metaphors serve as vital tools for meaningmaking and identity construction in diverse contexts. By critically analyzing various theoretical contributions, this paper aims to elucidate the complexities and multifaceted nature of metaphor in contemporary discourse, ultimately arguing for its essential role as a foundational element of human cognition and social engagement. The findings presented herein not only contribute to the ongoing discourse on metaphor theory but also underscore the necessity for interdisciplinary research that bridges cognitive science, linguistics, and social theory to further unravel the intricate relationship between metaphor, thought, and communication in a rapidly evolving societal landscape.

A Cognitive-Semiotic Construal of Metaphor in Discourse

Chinese Semiotic Studies 16(1), 2020

Cognitive semiotics is a new field for the study of meaning in transdisciplines, such as semiotics, cognitive linguistics, and corpus linguistics. This paper aims at studying how cognitive semiotics is employed to construe conceptual metaphors in discourse. We conducted a corpus-based study, with Lakoff and Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Fauconnier and Turner's Blending Theory (BT), to illustrate our cognitive-semiotic model for metaphors in Dragon Seed, written by Nobel Prize winner Pearl S. Buck. The major finding is that metaphors are mental constructions involving many spaces and mappings in the cognitive-semiotic network. These integration networks are related to encoders' cognitive, cultural, and social contexts. Additionally, cognitive semiotics can be employed to construe conceptual metaphors in discourse vividly and comprehensively and thus is helpful to reveal the ideology and the theme of the discourse.

The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor

1993

concepts like time, states, change, causation, and pur pose also turn out to be metaphorical. The result is that metaphor (that is, cross-domain mapping) is absolutely central to ordinary natural language semantics, and that the study of literary metaphor is an extension of the study of everyday metaphor. Everyday metaphor is characterized by a huge system of thousands of cross-domain mappings, and this system is made use of in novel metaphor. Because of these empirical results, the word metaphor has come to be used differently in contemporary metaphor research. The word metaphor has come to mean a cross-domain mapping in the conceptual system. The term metaphorical expression refers to a linguistic expression (a word, phrase, or sentence) that is the surface realization of such a cross-domain mapping (this is what the word metaphor referred to in the old theory). I will adopt the contemporary usage throughout this chapter. Experimental results demonstrating the cognitive reali ty of the extensive system of metaphorical mappings are discussed by Gibbs (this volume). Mark Turner's 1987 book, Death is the mother of beauty, whose title comes from Stevens' great line, demonstrates in detail how that line uses the ordinary system of everyday mappings. For further examples of how literary metaphor makes use of the ordinary metaphor system, see More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor, by Lakoff and Turner (1989) and Reading Minds: The Study of English in the Age of Cognitive Science, by Turner (1991). Since the everyday metaphor system is central to the understanding of poetic metaphor, we will begin with the everyday system and then turn to poetic examples.

Notes towards the analysis of metaphor (2000)

Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: …, 2000

G. LAKOFF and M. JOHNSON's theory of cognitive linguistics and their definition of metaphor and metaphorical concepts have led to a variety of qualitative approaches whose common aim is to reconstruct metaphorical concepts and metaphorical reasoning in everyday language. Targets of these approaches were cross-cultural, cultural, subcultural, individual matters and metaphoric interaction. To illustrate this, two different strategies for a systematic procedure are briefly outlined.

Metaphor in applied linguistics: four cognitive approaches

DELTA: Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada, 2006

This article presents some considerations into metaphor in language and thought- 'the topic and title of the first conference of its kind in Brazil'. The paper focuses on the discussions presented in the round table, which were mostly directed to the empirical research on metaphor in Applied Linguistics. This integrative and retrospective reflection on the papers presented will be conducted from the perspective of the debate into the relationship between metaphor in language and in thought. This central issue is at the core of my proposal for four different approaches to metaphor, based on the interdependence between language and thought as system and as use:1) metaphor in language as system; 2) metaphor in thought as system; 3) metaphor in language as use and 4) metaphor in thought as use. It is within the framework of these categories that metaphors should be studied, with a certain degree of autonomy, so that their interdependence can be better understood.

Introduction: Metaphor and language (from the Routledge Handbook of Metaphor and Language, 2017)

It is difficult to overstate the importance of metaphor in human language(s), thought and experience. Over centuries of scholarship and a period of particularly intense focus in the last four decades, metaphor has been defined, theorized and applied in many different and sometimes mutually incompatible ways. Nonetheless, a fairly broad consensus exists that metaphor involves the perception of similarities or correspondences between unlike entities and processes, so that we can see, experience, think and communicate about one thing in terms of another -our lives as journeys, our minds as machines, our emotions as external forces, people as animals, inanimate objects as people, and so on. This expands our ability to feel, reason and communicate in ways that are characteristically human.

Metaphor in language and thought: How do we map the field

This paper suggests that metaphor research can benefit from a clearer description of the field of research. Three dimensions of doing metaphor research are distinguished: metaphor can be studied as part of grammar or usage, it can be studied as part of language or thought, and it can be studied as part of sign systems or behaviour. When these three dimensions are crossed, eight distinct areas of research emerge that have their own assumptions about metaphorical meaning which have their own implications and consequences for the aims and evaluation of research. It is suggested that these distinctions will help in clarifying the validity of claims about the role of conceptual metaphor in language.

A Cognitive Semantics Study of Metaphor (1

This article deals with metaphor from a linguistic perspective. A question arises here as to whether to which field of language study metaphor belongs. How to answer the question is subject to our understanding of metaphorical expressions. When one encounters a situation in which a metaphorical expression is used, they have a kind of construal to conceptualize the expression. Thus, the field of linguistics which is concerned with studying metaphors is cognitive linguistics since people use their cognitive abilities to conceptualize and understand the metaphorical expressions. With respect to this, George Lakoff adopted a theory under the title Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). Here I try to shed light on some aspects of this theory. What is taken into consideration in the paper is a detailed account of metaphor as a cognitive device, the three basic types of conceptual metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980), namely orientational, ontological, and structural. Also, the characteristic features of conceptual metaphors like asymmetry, systematicity, and conventionality. Additionally, the relationship between conceptual metaphor and image schemas is shown in the last section. One of the conclusions of the article is that conceptual metaphor is an integral part of our everyday lives; we cannot interact normally without using conceptual metaphors.