Awareness in metaphor understanding
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Hanna Stöver
Abstract
This paper argues that a cognitive account of metaphor comprehension needs to include awareness of metaphoricity in order to fully explain the processes involved. In Relevance Theory as well as in other cognitively oriented approaches, much can be gained by making explicit the difference between conscious and subconscious processing: whether a communicator is aware of an expression’s metaphoricity or not may have an impact on the type of cognitive processing involved. A theoretical investigation is offered which explores the potential role of reflective reasoning in metaphor understanding. The discussion is based on the relevance-theoretic account, which explains the subconscious inferential processes involved. However, it leaves open the question of the potential impact of conscious availability of the tension between literal and figurative meaning, which is reminiscent of domain mappings in Cognitive Linguistics. Within metaphor research, a focus on awareness offers valuable findings for cognitively oriented schools of thought.
Abstract
This paper argues that a cognitive account of metaphor comprehension needs to include awareness of metaphoricity in order to fully explain the processes involved. In Relevance Theory as well as in other cognitively oriented approaches, much can be gained by making explicit the difference between conscious and subconscious processing: whether a communicator is aware of an expression’s metaphoricity or not may have an impact on the type of cognitive processing involved. A theoretical investigation is offered which explores the potential role of reflective reasoning in metaphor understanding. The discussion is based on the relevance-theoretic account, which explains the subconscious inferential processes involved. However, it leaves open the question of the potential impact of conscious availability of the tension between literal and figurative meaning, which is reminiscent of domain mappings in Cognitive Linguistics. Within metaphor research, a focus on awareness offers valuable findings for cognitively oriented schools of thought.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction to the Volume 1
-
The contemporary theory of metaphor: Revisions and recent developments
- Recent developments in metaphor theory 11
- The contemporary theory of metaphor — now new and improved! 27
- Awareness in metaphor understanding 67
- Productivity of Spanish verb–noun compounds 85
-
Metaphor and/or metonymy across different discourse/genre types
- Motion metaphors in discourse construction 109
- The adaptation of metaphors across genres 133
- Multimodal metonymy and metaphor as complex discourse resources for creativity in ICT advertising discourse 157
- How patent can patents be? 183
- Euphemistic conceptual metaphors in epitaphs from Highgate Cemetery 201
-
The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Current Applications
- Cognitive Semantic ways of teaching figurative phrases 229
- Translation Studies and the cognitive theory of metaphor 265
- Distinguishing near-synonyms and translation equivalents in metaphorical terms 283
- Subject index 317
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction to the Volume 1
-
The contemporary theory of metaphor: Revisions and recent developments
- Recent developments in metaphor theory 11
- The contemporary theory of metaphor — now new and improved! 27
- Awareness in metaphor understanding 67
- Productivity of Spanish verb–noun compounds 85
-
Metaphor and/or metonymy across different discourse/genre types
- Motion metaphors in discourse construction 109
- The adaptation of metaphors across genres 133
- Multimodal metonymy and metaphor as complex discourse resources for creativity in ICT advertising discourse 157
- How patent can patents be? 183
- Euphemistic conceptual metaphors in epitaphs from Highgate Cemetery 201
-
The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor: Current Applications
- Cognitive Semantic ways of teaching figurative phrases 229
- Translation Studies and the cognitive theory of metaphor 265
- Distinguishing near-synonyms and translation equivalents in metaphorical terms 283
- Subject index 317
