Publications

Publication details [#577]

Gibbs, Raymond W., Jr. 2011. Are ‘deliberate’ metaphors really deliberate?: A question of human consciousness and action. Metaphor and the Social World 1 (1) : 26–52. 27 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Amsterdam: John Benjamins

Abstract

The author discusses and challenges the widespread assumed distinction between conventional metaphor (metaphors that are typically produced automatically and effortlessly) and deliberate metaphor (consciously constructed and employed for rhetorical reasons). The author claims that, in the light of cognitive science, the workings of both types of metaphor do not differ as much as it is traditionally believed, and therefore they are not intrinsically distinct from other types of metaphoric language. Additionally, the author warns that the conscious engaging in deliberative thought may yield contradictory results as to achieve proper novel creative metaphors.