The contemporary theory of metaphor

Lakoff, George

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139173865.013

Cited by 3,025 publications

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“…This metonymic inference constitutes a mediator for a metaphorical reading (although she claims to be unsure of what she is saying): but I think ... that when you make an X-ray of a person, you have the lungs' tree, full of iron, forming an image of a tree, as if it were a landscape…She therefore constructs a metaphor from a metonymy, as Goossens (2002) would say, by using Asdrúbal's reading to mediate her metonymic and metaphoric inferences. In other words, she is building a metaphorical reading, by mapping the image of lung tree that is seen in the X-ray onto the image of the landscape, i.e., an image metaphor (Lakoff 1993) from a metonymy.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multiple readings of 'metaphor' in the classroom: co-construction of inferential chains

Zanotto

2010

DELTA

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This paper is part of a research project whose central aim is to empirically investigate the multiple readings of 'metaphors' in literary texts. The methodology employed is interpretive and the main research technique is the 'Group-Think Aloud'. In this paper, the data discussed were generated by a group of readers engaged in the reading of 'The Pulverized Mountain', a poem by Drummond de Andrade. The analysis focuses on the interpretations of the final verses that, due to incongruities presented, constitute enigmas for the reader to decipher. Analysis has shown that the apparent data chaos and complexity has, in fact, an organization in inferential chains co-constructed by metonymic and metaphoric processes. Key-words: metaphor; metonymy; interpretive methodology; inferential chain. Resumo: Este trabalho faz parte do projeto de pesquisa que tem como objetivo central investigar empiricamente as múltiplas leituras de metáforas em textos literários. A metodologia é a interpretativista e a técnica principal de pesquisa é o 'Pensar Alto em Grupo'. Neste trabalho são discutidos os dados de um grupo de leitores lendo o poema 'A Montanha Pulverizada', de Drummond de Andrade. O foco da análise são as interpretações dos versos finais, que, devido às incongruências que apresentam, constituem enigmas para o leitor decifrar. A análise mostrou que o aparente caos e complexidade dos dados têm, de fato, uma organização em cadeias inferenciais co-construídas por processos metonímicos e metafóricos.Palavras-chave: metáfora; metonímia; metodologia interpretativista; cadeia inferencial. D.E.L.T.A., 26:especial INTRODUÇÃOThe research reported here is part of a research project 1 whose central aim is to empirically investigate the multiple readings of 'metaphors' 2 in literary texts. After presenting the assumptions of this project -developed within the qualitative research paradigm -I will explain how the idea of coconstruction of inferential chains by metonymic and metaphoric processes became a matter for investigation in data analysis, since the data were not generated with that objective in mind; rather it occurred as a force that made its way to the centre of analytical process This project is developed within the Applied Linguistic area because, based on Rojo (2006) and Moita Lopes (2006), I consider that the aims of investigation in Applied Linguistics are: a) "the solution of contextualized problems, that are socially relevant and connected to language use and discourse;" (Rojo 2006: 258), and b) the construction of relevant results and useful knowledge for participants of the investigated social practice, taking into account their interests and perspectives (Moita Lopes 2006).Taking this concept of Applied Linguistics into account, the relevant social problem on which the research focuses is the teaching-learning of reading, which has been regarded, in recent evaluations such as ENEM, SAEB 3 , as one of the greatest educational problems in Brazil -since the results achieved in these assessments have shown students...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The multiple readings of 'metaphor' in the classroom: co-construction of inferential chains

Zanotto

2010

DELTA

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“…For Lakoff (2006), metaphors are "primarily conceptual, conventional and part of the ordinary system of thought and language" (p. 186), organized by cross-domain mappings in which abstract notions are understood by way of concrete concepts founded in our embodied experience. This view strongly rejects the secular distinction between figurative and literal meaning, as well as the false assumptions such a differentiation entails.…”

Section: A Different Understanding Of Metaphormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It should be noted, however, that not all language is metaphorical: Lakoff (2006) lists examples of concepts that are not to be taken metaphorically. Such concepts refer to rather straightforward physical descriptions of events, when it is undoubtedly clear that the physicality is the focus, such as in the balloon went up.…”

Section: A Different Understanding Of Metaphormentioning

confidence: 99%

A conceptual blending analysis of a metaphorical advertisement: applications in elt

Mattos

2017

Braz. Engl. Lang. Teach. J.

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Advances in Cognitive Linguistics have focused on the centrality of meaning and conceptual structure in human language (Evans & Green, 2006; Geeraerts, 2006), placing phenomena such as metaphor as central to human cognition (Lakoff, 2006; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). This paper analyzes the process of meaning construction of a metaphorical print advertisement in which cognitive operations of conceptual integration (cf. Fauconnier & Turner, 2002) can be mapped through the interplay between verbal and nonverbal language. Seeing that adverts can provide learners with real-life communicative opportunities for language development due to theirup-to-date language, cultural-bound content, and creative discourse techniques (Mishan, 2005; Picken, 2000; 1999), this paper additionally provides four pedagogical applications of the chosen advertisement in English Language Teaching, drawing on the principles of the theoreticalframework presented.

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“…From the start, the new approach to metaphor -first formulated by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980 and subsequently developed as Conceptual Metaphor Theory or CMT (Lakoff 1987(Lakoff , 1993) -was presented not only as an empirical breakthrough in the domain of metaphor research, but also as a revolutionary account of meaning, potentially transforming numerous disciplines. The latter claim was substantiated in several book…”

Section: Cmt and The 'Work' Of Metaphor | 154mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I will focus on the cognitive importance of metaphor, as this aspect plays a central role in Lakoff's account. If my approach is adversarial at places, I submit that it is motivated not only by an intention to dispel the rhetoric surrounding CMT but also to give due recognition to Lakoff and his collaborators' legitimate achievements.From the start, the new approach to metaphor -first formulated by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980 and subsequently developed as Conceptual Metaphor Theory or CMT (Lakoff 1987(Lakoff , 1993) -was presented not only as an empirical breakthrough in the domain of metaphor research, but also as a revolutionary account of meaning, potentially transforming numerous disciplines. The latter claim was substantiated in several book…”

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CMT and the 'Work' of Metaphor

Pawelec

2009

Cognitive Semiotics

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CMT and the 'Work' of MetaphorI propose to show that, in their Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), Lakoff and his collaborators do not offer a new account of metaphor but rather a wide-ranging representation of analogies, reconstructed on the basis of selected linguistic material (primarily collocations and idioms). Consequently, CMT is valuable not as an explanation of metaphorical language in use, nor a hypothesis about the genesis and development of concepts in individual minds, but primarily as a way to represent the results of unexplored social processes of lexicalization involving metaphor. If one adopts a more 'ecological', situated perspective, this global, post hoc approach may perhaps provide useful material to speculate on the forces that drive meaning extension in history.Keywords: conceptual metaphor, analogy, concept formation, blending, linguistic mentalism, stereotype, primacy of metaphor. INTRODUCTIONAs Black points out (1962: 28-29), '"metaphor" is a loose word, at best, and we must beware of attributing to it stricter rules of usage than are actually found in practice'. Black's point concerns a specific issue: differentiation of similar metaphors in discourse; but it may well be extended to any phenomena that go by this name. Whenever one wants to say something specific about the nature of metaphor, one should try to keep in mind the full range of entities labeled 'metaphorical' and place one's view within this wider horizon (see Section 5 for a sketch of this range). Black's advice is especially pertinent when one undertakes to define metaphor in a way that is strikingly different from standard usage and, at the same time, aims to revolutionize the whole field of metaphor research, as is the case with Lakoff and Johnson's proposal. It seems imperative then to relate their claims to traditional attempts that probe metaphor from different sides. I believe that Lakoff -the spiritus movens of the whole enterprise, 1 who has repeatedly underlined its importance -did not pay enough attention to this necessary aspect of metaphor research, possibly because he was convinced of 1 Lakoff's further cooperation with Johnson centred on their philosophical position called 'experientialism' or 'embodied realism' (Lakoff & Johnson 1999. Regarding metaphor -before veering towards a neuronal account (Lakoff 2008a: 17-38), which is outside the remit of this paper, Lakoff cooperated with e.g. Kövecses (Lakoff 1987a -the case study of 'anger'; cf. Kövecses 1986Kövecses , 1988Kövecses , 1990, Brugman (Lakoff 1987a -the case study of 'over'), and Turner (Lakoff & Turner 1989 CMT AND THE 'WORK' OF METAPHOR | 154discovering an empirical way to explore the phenomenon: a stance not uncommon in science. 2 In this paper, I would like to fill the gap -so far as my competence allows -and find a place within the field for Lakoff's view on metaphor, in the process reinterpreting his description of the project and its findings. I will focus on the cognitive importance of metaphor, as this aspect plays a central role in Lakoff'...

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The contemporary theory of metaphor

Abstract: To Appear in Ortony, Andrew (ed.) Metaphor and Thought (2nd edition), Cambridge University Press. Do not go gentle into that good night.-Dylan Thomas

Cited by 3,025 publications

References 7 publications

The multiple readings of 'metaphor' in the classroom: co-construction of inferential chains

The multiple readings of 'metaphor' in the classroom: co-construction of inferential chains

A conceptual blending analysis of a metaphorical advertisement: applications in elt

CMT and the 'Work' of Metaphor

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