Researching Metaphors

"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 Bernárdez, Professor of Linguistics, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain