Unexpected metaphors
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David McNeill
Abstract
Metaphoric gestures are ‘expected’ in the sense that the metaphoric image is predictable from cultural standards, such as those found in many verbal examples (cf. the ‘cup of meaning’ image in both “the film had no content” and a gesture formed with a palm upright open hand). But many metaphoric gestures are ‘unexpected’ – iconic gestures that are revealed to be metaphoric only when the function of the gesture is examined in the surrounding discourse. I illustrate three unexpected metaphors: a gesture depicting a bowling ball being thrust down, a metaphor for the idea of an antagonistic force; a series of gestures of one character trying to reach another, a metaphor for inaccessibility; and a spatial contrast presenting the idea of a contrast itself. None of these metaphors draws on canonical or cultural metaphoric schemas. Unexpected metaphors show a proclivity for making virtually any concrete image a vehicle for something else, even when the image is not among the canonical metaphoric images of a culture.
Abstract
Metaphoric gestures are ‘expected’ in the sense that the metaphoric image is predictable from cultural standards, such as those found in many verbal examples (cf. the ‘cup of meaning’ image in both “the film had no content” and a gesture formed with a palm upright open hand). But many metaphoric gestures are ‘unexpected’ – iconic gestures that are revealed to be metaphoric only when the function of the gesture is examined in the surrounding discourse. I illustrate three unexpected metaphors: a gesture depicting a bowling ball being thrust down, a metaphor for the idea of an antagonistic force; a series of gestures of one character trying to reach another, a metaphor for inaccessibility; and a spatial contrast presenting the idea of a contrast itself. None of these metaphors draws on canonical or cultural metaphoric schemas. Unexpected metaphors show a proclivity for making virtually any concrete image a vehicle for something else, even when the image is not among the canonical metaphoric images of a culture.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- Why study metaphor and gesture? 5
- From left to right...: Coverbal gestures and their symbolic use of space 27
- Gesture as a conceptual mapping tool 55
- A fresh look at the foundations of mathematics: Gesture and the psychological reality of conceptual metaphor 93
- Peircean semiotics meets conceptual metaphor: Iconic modes in gestural representations of grammar 115
- Unexpected metaphors 155
- Catchment, growth point and spatial metaphor: Analysing Derrida's oral discourse on deconstruction 171
- Form, meaning, and convention: A comparison of a metaphoric gesture with an emblem 195
- What gestures reveal about the nature of metaphor 219
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Commentaries on the value of studying metaphor and gesture from the perspectives of different disciplines
- Metaphoric gesture and cognitive linguistics 249
- Metaphoric gestures and cultural analysis 253
- Metaphor and gesture: A view from the microanalysis of interaction 259
- Implications of cognitive metaphor and gesture studies for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis and vice versa 265
- Sign and gesture: Towards a new paradigm 273
- The study of metaphor and gesture: A critique from the perspective of semiotics 277
- The neuroscience of metaphoric gestures: Why they exist 283
- Metaphor and gesture: Some implications for psychology 291
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Contributors vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
- Why study metaphor and gesture? 5
- From left to right...: Coverbal gestures and their symbolic use of space 27
- Gesture as a conceptual mapping tool 55
- A fresh look at the foundations of mathematics: Gesture and the psychological reality of conceptual metaphor 93
- Peircean semiotics meets conceptual metaphor: Iconic modes in gestural representations of grammar 115
- Unexpected metaphors 155
- Catchment, growth point and spatial metaphor: Analysing Derrida's oral discourse on deconstruction 171
- Form, meaning, and convention: A comparison of a metaphoric gesture with an emblem 195
- What gestures reveal about the nature of metaphor 219
-
Commentaries on the value of studying metaphor and gesture from the perspectives of different disciplines
- Metaphoric gesture and cognitive linguistics 249
- Metaphoric gestures and cultural analysis 253
- Metaphor and gesture: A view from the microanalysis of interaction 259
- Implications of cognitive metaphor and gesture studies for Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis and vice versa 265
- Sign and gesture: Towards a new paradigm 273
- The study of metaphor and gesture: A critique from the perspective of semiotics 277
- The neuroscience of metaphoric gestures: Why they exist 283
- Metaphor and gesture: Some implications for psychology 291
- Index 303
