Literature Review of Studies on Metaphor.docx

1、Literature Review of Studies on MetaphorLiterature Review of Studies on Metaphor 【Abstract】This paper provides an overview of major theories of metaphor and some brief comments.In this paper，the studies of metaphor at home and abroad and some related researches are presented.Four influential metapho

2、r theories（ the comparison theory， the substitution theory，the interaction theory as well as the theory of conceptual metaphor.） will be introduced. 【Key words】literature review； studies of metaphor； metaphor theory 1.Introduction Metaphor is found in all languages because it is an important part of

3、 language and culture of society.Metaphor exists in both literature and everyday language pervasively.Traditionally it is considered as a figure of speech until the early twentieth century with the introduction of the interaction theory，but with the publication of Metaphors We Live By in 1980，George

4、 Lakoff and Mark Johnson first developed the view that challenged all aspects of the powerful traditional view and the systematic approach.This view marks the establishment of the cognitive approach to metaphor.Metaphor has become a hot topic at home and abroad since then，not only in linguistics，but

5、 also in psychology，philosophy，sociology and many other fields.Metaphor has been studied from different angles，including relevance theory which stands for one of the latest developments of cognitive researches. 2.Studies on Metaphor abroad There are four influential theories in the history of study

6、of metaphor，They are the comparison theory，the substitution theory，the interaction theory and the conceptual metaphor theory.According to Black （1993），these theories can be divided into two types： the traditional theory and the contemporary theory.The comparison theory，the substitution theory and th

7、e interaction theory belong to the traditional theory .They consider metaphor as a matter of language，a theatrical device.The conceptual metaphor theory belongs to the contemporary theory，which regards metaphor as a cognitive tool，an important means of understanding the world. At present，conceptual

8、metaphor theory has been widely accepted and used in many fields.And it is supported by more and more empirical evidences.Though the traditional theories are not updated，they are advanced at that time.And without the illumination of the traditional theories，the conceptual metaphor theory will not ap

9、pear. 2.1 Comparison theory Comparison theory gets the inspiration from Aristotle and claims that metaphor involves a comparison or similarity of two or more objects.According to this theory，metaphors are elliptical similes and can be understood in the form of “A is like B”（Black，1962）；the function

10、of metaphor is a rhetoric device which is used to achieve vividness or persuasiveness： and it is a kind of “word-metaphor”.The following definition is given to metaphor in Aristotle Poetics： “Metaphor lies in giving the thing a name that belongs to some thing else； the transference being either from

11、 genus to species，or from species to genus，or from species to species，or on grounds of analogy”（Aristotle，1457：69）.Aristotle （1459：3-8）also pointed out that the greatest thing is to have a command of metaphor，this alone cannot be passed on to another； this is the sign of genius，for to make a good me

12、taphor means an eye for similarities. For example，the metaphor，TIME IS MONEY，is actually equal to the simile，TIME IS AS VALUABLE AS MONEY.In fact，comparison theory plays a crucial role in the process of interpretation of metaphor.It is the first influential metaphor theory in the history of the stud

13、y of metaphor.Though it is advanced at its age，it has its weaknesses： Firstly，metaphor is based on preexisting similarities. Secondly，metaphor is regarded as something that happens just at the word level. Last，metaphor is considered as a rhetorical device，only genius can seize it. 2.2 Substitution T

14、heory Comparison theory is a special case of substitution theory.Roman rhetorician Quintilianus （1 A.D.） is the founder of substitution theory.According to this theory，a metaphorical expression is used in place of some equivalent literal expression.（Black，1962：31） He believes that the interpretation

15、 of metaphor involves a literal paraphrase to replace an original metaphor.For instance，in the metaphor “Andrew is a lion”，we have to paraphrase the metaphorical part，“a lion” into its literal equivalent，“a brave man” when we are ready to grasp the true sense of the metaphor. Metaphor is treated as

16、theatrical device in both the comparison theory and the substitution theory.Its major function is secondary along with ornamental.Their views of metaphor are different from each other.Comparison theory puts emphasis on the nature of metaphor formulation，while substitution theory focuses on the ways

17、of metaphor formulation （ShuDingfang，1996：17）. 2.3 Interaction theory Lan Chun （2003：11） points out that the publication of Richards The Philosophy of Rhetoric （1936），where the interaction view is proposed is the real breakthrough in the field of metaphor studies.Richards （1936：21）points out that wh

18、en we use a metaphor，we have two thoughts of different things active together and supported by a single word，or phrase，whose meaning is a result of their interaction.In other words，metaphor is “a borrowing between intercourse of thoughts，transaction between contexts”（Riehards，1936：94）.However Richar

19、ds does not explain what the results of interaction are and how the interaction goes on in metaphor. Black（1962，1993） inherits and polishes interaction theory.He claims that an interaction between the primary subject （frame） and the secondary subject （focus） of a sentence creates metaphorical meanin

20、g by.He also puts forward that a metaphor is comprised of a focus within a frame，and the focus gets its metaphorical meaning from its interaction with the frame. The primary subject of a sentence （frame） and the interaction of two subjects （focus） between the generation of a metaphorical sense.He al

21、so proposed a metaphor is comprised of focus within the framework and focus from the interaction with the frame got its metaphorical significance. Compared with the comparison theory，both of them attach importance to role of similarity on the interpretation of metaphor，but Blacks theory goes a step

22、further and pays more attention to the created similarity rather than the preexisted one. Blacks work brings along significant progress in clarifying the field of metaphor： After him，some other scholars have also made attempts to clarify the interaction theory.Among them，there are Mdc Cormac and Ind

23、urkhya.Mdc Cormac （19901985） undertakes to provide a formal explanation for metaphor by using the set theory and Indurkhya（1992） promised to build a new simple framework which can offer a explanation of similarities between its two components created by a metaphor.（Lan Chun，2003：12）. Although Black

24、makes progress in the interaction theory，he is still unable to provide a clear explanation about what structures and features metaphors have. 2.4 Conceptual metaphor theory For the study of metaphor，the 20th century is an important period，because many cognitive linguists，such as Lackoff，Johnson，Gibb

25、s，Sweester，Koveeses， made their study of metaphor from a new angle- cognitive linguistic perspective.They believe that metaphor is not only a matter of language，but also away of thinking of human being.They begin to probe deep into the nature of metaphor.The real beginning of cognitive study of meta

26、phor is marked by the publication of Lackoff & Johnsons famous book Metaphors we live by.the conceptual metaphor theory is proposed and metaphor is defined as understanding one conceptual domain in terms of another conceptual domain in this book.They believe that metaphor is ubiquitous in every day

27、life，not only in language but also in thought and action，that “in terms of which we both think and act，our ordinary conceptual system is fundamentally metaphorical in essence” and that “our conceptual system is largely metaphorical，then to a greater extent， the way we think，what we do every day and

28、what we experience is a matter of metaphor.”（Lakoff&Johnson，1980：3） Reddy also notes that “the locus of metaphor is thought，not language，that metaphor is a significant and indispensable part of our ordinary，traditional way of conceptualization of the world and that our daily behavior reflects experi

29、ence of our metaphorical understanding” （Reddy，1979； Lakoff，1994）. In the conceptual metaphor theory，metaphor is considered as a cross-domain mapping from target domain to source domain in conceptual system.the target domain is the conceptual domain that we try to understand and the source domain is

30、 the conceptual domain that we use for this purpose.Conceptual metaphors typically employ a more specific concept as source and a more abstract concept as target.Constituent conceptual elements of source domain correspond systematically to constituent elements of target domain.These conceptual corre

31、spondences are called mappings.To understand a metaphor means to understand the mapping system between a source and a target.（Koveeses，2002） The cognitive linguistic view of metaphor consists of several components： source domain，target domain，experiential basis，neural structures corresponding to sou

32、rce and target in the brain，relationships between the source and the target，metaphorical linguistic expressions，mappings，entailments，blends，nonlinguistic realizations and cultural models. 3.Studies on metaphor at home The traditional studies of metaphor are important nowadays because they confine themselves to the realm of rhetoric.And the traditional theories of metaphor are put forward by scholars abroad.We will not discuss the traditional views in China.Whats more，the current study focuses on the conceptual metaphor theory in the cognitive linguistics，so the studies of