Performing Metaphoric Creativity across Modes and Contexts

“The chapters in this volume, covering different genres, modes, and media, eloquently demonstrate that metaphors are not only concepts that we live by (Lakoff and Johnson), but also capture truly innovative and unique insights (Black). Its authors rightly insist that metaphors must be studied in combination with other tropes as well as other semiotic resources, and show recommendable sensitivity to the importance of the specific context of use.”

“ Performing Metaphoric Creativity across Modes and Contexts provides a breath-taking panorama of the different ways metaphor manifests as a tool for creativity across different semiotic modes and different cultural and communicative contexts. Given the importance of cross-modality in our everyday experiences, the book represents a long-awaited contribution to creativity studies. It also, however, draws upon and contributes to a wide range of related disciplines, from psychology to discourse analysis. The dizzying variety of modes and contexts addressed in this collection include images, music, cinema, architecture, and internet formats, and examples are drawn from diverse cultural contexts. The notion of creativity is illuminated through being brought into dialogue with concepts such as complexity, materiality, virality, and criticality. Perhaps the most impressive thing about this book, though, is the commitment of all of its contributors to demonstrating the power of creativity to change the world by challenging cultural traditions, altering social structures and possibilities for social action, and changing the minds of the people who engage with it. This book is an essential addition to the library of any scholar interested in creativity, cognition, metaphor, multimodality and discourse analysis more generally.”

“This volume makes an exciting and timely contribution to our understanding and appreciation of metaphoric creativity as both a product and a process. The chapters cover an impressive variety of genres, modes and domains of communication, with particular attention for multi-modal interactions in cartoons, advertising, film and music. As such, the book is a must-read not just for scholars of metaphor and/or creativity, but for anyone interested in discourse, communication and cognition.”

“Since this book is ripe with ideas that experts like to discuss, I would recommend it to anyone interested in studying figurative language and especially to anyone interested in metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole, synecdoche, or irony. Who knows, it may be exactly this book whose contributions will give rise to important new insights in the future.”

“All in all, this is a well-written book which is informative, interesting and thought-provoking. This volume discusses metaphoric creativity and its performativity from a multimodal and cross-contextual perspective. Encompassing a wide spectrum of domains in art and daily life, it is expected to open up a promising window for further exploration of conceptual metaphor in multimodal discourse and as such it is highly recommended.”