Chapter published in:
Producing Figurative Expression: Theoretical, experimental and practical perspectivesEdited by John Barnden and Andrew Gargett
[Figurative Thought and Language 10] 2020
► pp. 85–104
Metaphor production and metaphor interpretation
Andreas Musolff | University of East Anglia
Metaphor production and interpretation are
intricately connected: the former has the latter as its ostensive
target; however, interpretation processes can trigger new metaphor
formulations which were unforeseen by the original speaker and would
have to count as new productions. This paper looks at corpus- and
survey-based evidence of innovative interpretative metaphor use that
changes the default meanings of established figurative
constructions. Specifically, we look at interpretation-induced
changes in the meaning of corporeal metaphors, on the basis of a (1)
corpus of British political discourse and (2) a questionnaire survey
of more than 1000 respondents from 31 linguistic backgrounds in 10
countries.The corpus-based evidence presented in the first part consists of
metaphor-production data that show how situational variation in
metaphor use can over time create a semantic-pragmatic drift that
changes the dominant meaning of a conventional metaphor expression,
thus illustrating diachronic variation. The questionnaire survey,
which forms the material for the second part reveals four distinct
models for body-focused readings (i.e. nation as
geobody, as hierarchical functional whole, as part of speaker’s
body, as part of larger body), plus further
person-focused readings. These data show synchronic
variation.By highlighting significant variation, both data sets put in question
the standard theory model of ‘automatic’ metaphor processing and
extension. Instead, they indicate a strong production element in
metaphor interpretation – and of interpretive aspects in metaphor
production.
Keywords: creativity, corpus, discourse history, interpretation, metaphor production, metaphor reception, nation as body/ person, questionnaire survey, variation
Published online: 17 December 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.10.04mus
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.10.04mus
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