Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Two models of metaphoricity and three dilemmas of metaphor research

Sonesson, Göran LU orcid (2019) In Cognitive Semiotics 12(1).
Abstract

Starting out from classical metaphor theory, I consider two models, the Overlap model and the Tension model-the difference between which may not have been spelled out in that tradition. Although the latter has an Aristotelian pedigree, it may be less generally valid than the Overlap model, at least if the requirement for tension is placed very high. The metaphors distinguished by Lakoff and Johnson, like the catachresis of classical rhetoric, fulfils the Overlap model, but in a petrified form, as is shown by the fact that both may, in the same way, be awakened from their slumber by some modification or addition to the sentence. What Lakoff and Johnson, later on, call primary metaphors, however, does not really correspond to any of these... (More)

Starting out from classical metaphor theory, I consider two models, the Overlap model and the Tension model-the difference between which may not have been spelled out in that tradition. Although the latter has an Aristotelian pedigree, it may be less generally valid than the Overlap model, at least if the requirement for tension is placed very high. The metaphors distinguished by Lakoff and Johnson, like the catachresis of classical rhetoric, fulfils the Overlap model, but in a petrified form, as is shown by the fact that both may, in the same way, be awakened from their slumber by some modification or addition to the sentence. What Lakoff and Johnson, later on, call primary metaphors, however, does not really correspond to any of these models. They are quite literally extensions of human embodiments. Thus, they are actually diagrams, in the sense in which Peirce opposes them to metaphors. We go on to discuss similarities and differences between verbal and pictorial metaphors, arguing that some metaphorical configurations are more apt to work in pictures and others in language, although there are also some configurations which are common to both.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Lifeworld, overlap model, pictorial metaphors, tension model, verbal metaphors
in
Cognitive Semiotics
volume
12
issue
1
article number
20192009
publisher
De Gruyter
external identifiers
  • scopus:85120748689
  • scopus:85120748689
ISSN
2235-2066
DOI
10.1515/cogsem-2019-2009
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
756b2267-33a5-4cde-8561-29f2f9f8bc29
date added to LUP
2019-06-21 20:17:39
date last changed
2023-11-04 19:53:58
@article{756b2267-33a5-4cde-8561-29f2f9f8bc29,
  abstract     = {{<p>Starting out from classical metaphor theory, I consider two models, the Overlap model and the Tension model-the difference between which may not have been spelled out in that tradition. Although the latter has an Aristotelian pedigree, it may be less generally valid than the Overlap model, at least if the requirement for tension is placed very high. The metaphors distinguished by Lakoff and Johnson, like the catachresis of classical rhetoric, fulfils the Overlap model, but in a petrified form, as is shown by the fact that both may, in the same way, be awakened from their slumber by some modification or addition to the sentence. What Lakoff and Johnson, later on, call primary metaphors, however, does not really correspond to any of these models. They are quite literally extensions of human embodiments. Thus, they are actually diagrams, in the sense in which Peirce opposes them to metaphors. We go on to discuss similarities and differences between verbal and pictorial metaphors, arguing that some metaphorical configurations are more apt to work in pictures and others in language, although there are also some configurations which are common to both.</p>}},
  author       = {{Sonesson, Göran}},
  issn         = {{2235-2066}},
  keywords     = {{Lifeworld; overlap model; pictorial metaphors; tension model; verbal metaphors}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter}},
  series       = {{Cognitive Semiotics}},
  title        = {{Two models of metaphoricity and three dilemmas of metaphor research}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cogsem-2019-2009}},
  doi          = {{10.1515/cogsem-2019-2009}},
  volume       = {{12}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}