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Metaphor: what is it? |
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Metaphor is a figurative expression in which a word is shifted
from its normal use to a context where it gives new meanings.
But how real
are such meanings? Some (e.g. philosophers like John
Searle and Donald
Davidson) play down the role of metaphor, believing
language to be essentially literal. In the interactive view
of Max
Black, I.A.
Richards, and Monroe
Beardsley, metaphor arises out of interactions between
the conceptual structures that lie beneath the level of
words. In the work of Lakoff
and colleagues,
metaphor becomes a cognitive device that establishes perspectives
that form the irreducible fabric of thought and expression,
as can be seen at Gaia,
metaphor
in scientific thinking, technical
writing classes, songwriting,
musical
theory, graphical
user interfaces, visual
metaphor, Jungian
psychology, and caricature.
Difficulties
notwithstanding, modern conceptions of metaphor provide
the grounds for claiming that poetry provides us a proper
understanding of the world: it is form of truth.
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Metaphor in literature: some do's
and don'ts. |
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Creative
writing tutors usually encourage the use of metaphor
in its various
forms, as at these sites:
about, creative
writing tips, Reed
College, creative
writing for teens, applying
creative writing techniques and lesson
plans. More discriminating use is urged at worldwide
learn, MediaMatch,
pen
and metaphor, and using
metaphors in creative writing. Beyond the classroom, in
writing generally, metaphors are part of
imagery
and rhetoric,
and have therefore to be used appropriately (Aristotle stressed
dignity). Metaphors exist to evoke thought, emotion, or amusement
, and will clearly fail when too mixed, far-fetched or contrived.
Ultimately, it is not theory but expectation that decides
— which is why poets read extensively. |
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Further reading |
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A good bibliography is found at the University
of Leipzig site, and key books on metaphor theory include
I.A. Richard's The Philosophy of Rhetoric (1936),
M.C. Beardsley's The Metaphorical Twist PPR 22 (1962),
M. Black's Models and Metaphors (1962), R.J. Fogelin's
Figuratively Speaking (1988) G. Lakoff and M. Johnson's
More than Cool Reason (1989), A. Goatly's The
Language of Metaphors (1997) and Lakoff and Núñez's
Where Mathematics Comes From: How the Embodied Mind
Brings Mathematics into Being (2000). Donald Davidson's
What Metaphors Mean in Inquiries into Truth
and Interpretation (1984) is much more difficult, but
helpful introductions to metaphor in philosophy are
Metaphor in Ted Honderich's The Oxford Companion
to Philosophy and More about Metaphor in Andrew
Ortony's Metaphor and Thought (1979). Metaphor
in poetry is covered by many books on literature and literary
criticism, e.g.
A.
Preminger's The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and
Poetics (1993) and John
Whitworth's Writing Poetry (2001). A worked
example is metaphor
criticism.
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