Metonymic indeterminacy and metalepsis
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Rita Brdar-Szabó
Abstract
Given appropriate context, indeterminacy may arise when a metonymic vehicle, i.e. the source, can be simultaneously linked to more than one metonymic target. We claim that this situation, akin to the phenomenon of metalepsis or transgression in narratology, is not rare, but quite usual, and even regular in certain contexts. This may lead to an increase of a second-order type of anisomorphy, but ultimately leaves space for dynamic meaning construal and optimizes texts coherence. In order to accommodate metalepsis, we argue for an approach to metonymy not based on mappings but on the activation of the source conceptual cluster opening a mental space dynamically expanded or reduced so as to fit the conceptual frame provided by the co(n)text of use.
Abstract
Given appropriate context, indeterminacy may arise when a metonymic vehicle, i.e. the source, can be simultaneously linked to more than one metonymic target. We claim that this situation, akin to the phenomenon of metalepsis or transgression in narratology, is not rare, but quite usual, and even regular in certain contexts. This may lead to an increase of a second-order type of anisomorphy, but ultimately leaves space for dynamic meaning construal and optimizes texts coherence. In order to accommodate metalepsis, we argue for an approach to metonymy not based on mappings but on the activation of the source conceptual cluster opening a mental space dynamically expanded or reduced so as to fit the conceptual frame provided by the co(n)text of use.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. Figurative language 1
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Part I. Intersubjectivity and interaction
- Second-order empathy, pragmatic ambiguity, and irony 19
- Desiderata for metaphor theory, the Motivation & Sedimentation Model and motion-emotion metaphoremes 41
- Evaluating metaphor accounts via their pragmatic effects 75
- The multimodal negotiation of irony and humor in interaction 109
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Part II. Mechanisms and processes
- Metaphor and irony 139
- Metonymic indeterminacy and metalepsis 175
- On verbal and situational irony 213
- On figurative ambiguity, marking, and low-salience meanings 241
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Part III. Usage and variation
- Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy 287
- Psycholinguistic approaches to figuration 307
- The fabric of metaphor in discourse 339
- Sources of verbal humor in the lexicon 357
- Measuring the impact of (non)figurativity in the cultural conceptualization of emotions in the two main national varieties of Portuguese 387
- Index 439
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction. Figurative language 1
-
Part I. Intersubjectivity and interaction
- Second-order empathy, pragmatic ambiguity, and irony 19
- Desiderata for metaphor theory, the Motivation & Sedimentation Model and motion-emotion metaphoremes 41
- Evaluating metaphor accounts via their pragmatic effects 75
- The multimodal negotiation of irony and humor in interaction 109
-
Part II. Mechanisms and processes
- Metaphor and irony 139
- Metonymic indeterminacy and metalepsis 175
- On verbal and situational irony 213
- On figurative ambiguity, marking, and low-salience meanings 241
-
Part III. Usage and variation
- Metaphor, metonymy and polysemy 287
- Psycholinguistic approaches to figuration 307
- The fabric of metaphor in discourse 339
- Sources of verbal humor in the lexicon 357
- Measuring the impact of (non)figurativity in the cultural conceptualization of emotions in the two main national varieties of Portuguese 387
- Index 439
