Contexts of Metaphor
By Michiel Leezenberg
Volume 7 in the Current Research in the Semantics/Pragmatics Interface
Book Series: http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/series/crispi
Edited by K.M. Jaszczolt, University of Cambridge and K. Turner, University of Brighton, UK
ISBN: 0-08-0438814 * Hardbound * 321 pages * NLG 190 (euro 86.22) USD 93.50
This study presents an approach to metaphor that systematically takes contextual factors into account. It analyses how metaphors both depend on, and change, the context in which they are uttered, and specifically, how metaphorical interpretation involves the articulation of asserted, implied and presupposed material. It supplements this semantic analysis with a practice-based account of metaphor at the conceptual level, which stresses the role of sociocultural factors in concept formation.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapters From the History of Metaphor
The Pre- and Protohistory of Metaphor; Prehistorical and preliterate societies; Metaphor in Mesopotamia: Sumer and Akkad; Aristotle on Metaphor, Comparison, and Similarity; Abd al-Qâhir al-Jurjânî's Mysteries of Eloquence; Giambattista Vico: Metaphor and the Origin of Language.
Twentieth-Century Views of Metaphor
Semantic Approaches; Referentialist views; Descriptivist views; Intermezzo: metaphor in generative grammar; Pragmatic Approaches; The Gricean program; Searle; The Davidsonian Program: Metaphor Without Meaning; Conceptualist Approaches: Cognitive Semantics.
Metaphor and Context
Metaphor and Context-Dependence; Kaplan's logic of demonstratives; Context-dependence of property expressions; Metaphor and the logic of demonstratives; A comparison: Stern's 'metaphor as demonstrative'. Metaphorical Assertion; Stalnakerian views of assertion; Pragmatic intrusion: the neo-Gricean program; Thematic dimensions, presupposition, and assertion; Extensions: scope and shift of dimensions; Novel metaphor.
Metaphor, Concept, and Society
Conceptualist Views of Metaphor: A Radical Critique; Extending cognitive semantics: Gibbs & Indurkhya; A Wittgensteinian critique of concepts; Metaphor and Concept Formation: A Vygotskyan Approach; Vygotsky: concepts, language, and context; Similarity and the role of theories; Concepts and metaphor; Beyond Literal Meaning; Bibliography; Index.
Comments
Raymond W. Gibbs Jr., University of California, Santa Cruz, USA:
"There are many books on metaphor these days, but "Contexts of Metaphor" demands scholars' immediate attention. Michiel Leezenberg has provided an insightful account of metaphor and context-dependence that will surely have an impact on philosophical and linguistic theories of metaphor. But Leezenberg has also written a deeply scholarly book that nicely evaluates many historical and contemporary views of metaphor across disciplines. His analyses are very impressive, and the breadth of his work is astonishing. "Contexts of Metaphor" is a major addition to metaphor scholarship. "
Jay David Atlas, Pomona College, Claremont, USA:
"At the hands of J. Stern, M. Bergmann, P. Bosch, and now Michiel Leezenberg, David Kaplan's logic of demonstratives has generated a fruitful approach to the semantics of metaphor. Leezenberg's book is the most recent and most developed application of indexical semantics to metaphor. His discussion of pre- twenty-first century views is particularly welcome, while his criticism of competing views from contemporary linguistics, philosophy, and psychology of language is astute and comprehensive. Leezenberg has created a compelling account of metaphor as contextual interpretation. "
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