Publications

Publication details [#10005]

Shu, Dingfang. 2002. Lun yinyu de yunzuo jizhi (On the working mechanisms of metaphor). Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis 34 (2, Mar) : 98–106. 9 pp.

Abstract

Among the well-known theories of metaphor, the "Interaction Theory" of Richards and Black, the "Mapping Theory" of Lakoff and Johnson, and Fauconnier's theory of "Blending" all aim to explain the working mechanisms of metaphor. However, none of them adequately addresses the problem. The author of this paper tries to integrate the three theories and argues that metaphor is the result of interactions between two different domains in which some of the structural relations and domain-specific properties of one domain, the source domain, are mapped onto the other, the target domain. This transfer occurs on the basis of perceived similarity between some of the elements of the two domains. Similarity can be physical or psychological. It can exist in the real world or in an imaginary world. The degree of metaphoricity of a metaphor depends on the degree of similarity between the two domains in question. As metaphor has a foot in two domains, a double image arises as a result, producing vividness and dynamic and rich meanings that are characteristic of metaphorical discourses. (LLBA, Adapted from the source document, Accession Number 200208943, (c) CSA [2002]. All rights reserved.)