This collection advocates for a more holistic picture of metaphor, extending the field's focus beyond the cognitive paradigm and conventional metaphorical concepts to illustrate the possibilities afforded by the study of living metaphors.

The volume brings together a diverse range of researchers in the discipline towards critically examining the presuppositions of the cognitive approach. The book shines a light on living metaphors - creative interpretations of conflictual meaning specific to a text or communicative act with their own unique functions - to throw into relief long-held tenets in existing metaphor research. Chapters reflect on the notion that creative metaphors spring from independent sources, not merely from metaphorical concepts, and the subsequent implications for our understanding of the relationship between linguistic forms and conceptual structures and the role of creative metaphors in organizing thought and action. Taken together, the book offers a complementary vision of languages and figures which integrates disparate lines of study within the cognitive paradigm with alternative perspectives for a more comprehensive portrait of metaphors.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars interested in the study of metaphor, including such disciplines as theoretical linguistics, cognitive linguistics, semantics, literary studies, and philosophy of language.

About the Author

Michele Prandi was professor of Linguistics at the Universities of Geneva, Pavia, Bologna, and Genoa. He is Doctor Honoris Causa at the University of Uppsala. His main research fields are semantics of complex expressions, conditions of significance, natural ontology and conceptual analysis, and metaphor and figurative language in their grammatical and conceptual aspects.

Micaela Rossi is professor of French Language and Translation at the University of Genoa. Her research interests focus on the formation of new metaphorical terminologies in technical and scientific vocabularies, as well as on the textual and discursive dynamics that determine their fixation within socio-professional communities of use.

Reviews

"This well constructed volume breathes new life into the old world of metaphor theory by reinvigorating it through the concept of 'living metaphors': those that rely as much on an act of meaning interpretation as they do on creativity on the part of their originator. The relationship between creative thought and its expression in language is pursued through the investigation of metaphor in specialist discourses such as economics, in diverse genres such as proverbs, social media posts, and poetry and across time and cultures.

Though not ignoring the importance of metaphor in literature, by illustrating the work that metaphor does across diverse genres, including the traditional literary ones, this volume delves into the comprehensive nature of metaphor in human thought, language and understanding."

Jonathan Charteris-Black, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, University of the West of England

"This volume corrects the overcorrection of cognitive metaphor studies by treating conventional and living metaphors as systematically distinguishable according to the nature (and not just degree) of the conceptual interaction involved. To put crudely what the authors spell out rigorously and convincingly: unlike "the metaphors we live by," living metaphor is marked by conceptual conflict that inspires creative thinking within the target domain. Such conflict and creativity are enabled by the combinatorial and coherence-building mechanisms of the language system, which is to this extent empowering to and not merely reflective of the mind that uses it. The collection revalorizes the creativity and textuality of living metaphor and emphasizes its vital role in the historical development of specialist discourses from biology and economics to literature and translation studies."

Mark J. Bruhn, Professor of English, Regis University, USA

"This book is a new and unique polyhedric approach to conceptual metaphors viewed from the 'standard' standpoint in Cognitive Linguistics but also from alternative semantic and philosophical traditions. 'Active' metaphors are analysed together with 'conventional' ones that have a significant impact in the vocabulary. Theory goes hand in hand with practical analyses of important topics. Readers will learn, discuss, and reflect much when reading the contributions to this outstanding volume."

Enrique Bernardez, Professor of Linguistics, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain

Book Information
ISBN 9781032025865
Author Michele Prandi
Format Hardback
Page Count 262
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g