Dimensions of Metaphor Meaning
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17851/2237-2083.31.3.1116-1135Palabras clave:
conceptual metaphors, context, complex systemsResumen
For many years, scholars have been proposing generic or universal theories of metaphor, but metaphors turn out to be more complex than that. In this paper, we discuss cases that show that metaphor meanings and mappings are contextual. By contextual, we mean the interactions between multiple factors in different timescales. The cases we analyze to make our point come from our study of resistance to metaphors. When people resist metaphors, they tend to explain what meaning the metaphor has to them, thus we see naturally occurring evidence for metaphor’s dynamic and multidimensional meanings. Contrary to Lakoff’s claims, there can be no single source of meaning to metaphors. In a complex systems perspective, metaphor meaning is construed in the interactions between different factors, such as the background of the speakers and listeners, the grammatical form of the metaphor, the co-text, personality, other characteristics of the metaphor (aptness, familiarity, conventionality), the history of previous uses of the metaphor, etc. All these factors operate in a non-deterministic way. In this perspective, conceptual metaphors, acquired through experiences, are one source of constraint to meaning. People share similar meanings to the degree that they share similar experiences, knowledge, and biases.
Referencias
BOWDLE, B. F.; GENTNER, D. The Career of Metaphor. Psychological Review, US, v. 112, n. 1, p. 193-216, 2005. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.112.1.193
CROFT, W.; CRUSE, D. A. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics). Disponível em: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cognitive-linguistics/8CE9230D2E18C120A5274EDE524C606C. Acesso em: 27 ago. 2022.
FERREIRA, F.; BAILEY, K. G. D.; FERRARO, V. Good-Enough Representations in Language Comprehension. Current Directions in Psychological Science, [s. l.], v. 11, n. 1, p. 11-15, 2002. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8721.00158.
FUENTES, M. A.; MIGUEL, H. Paisajes dinámicos en la modelización de la comunicación y el aprendizaje. [s. l.], 2016. Disponível em: https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/74714. Acesso em: 16 nov. 2021. DOI:https://doi.org/10.11606/S1678-31662016000100005
GENTNER, D. Metaphor as Structure Mapping: The Relational Shift. Child Development, [s. l.], v. 59, n. 1, p. 47-59, 1988. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/1130388.
GIBBS, R. W. The real complexities of psycholinguistic research on metaphor. Language Sciences, [s. l.], v. 40, p. 45-52, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2013.03.001.
GIBBS JR, R. W. Metaphor Wars: Conceptual Metaphors in Human Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Disponível em: http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ref/id/CBO9781107762350. Acesso em: 25 out. 2021.
GIBBS, R. W.; SANTA CRUZ, M. J. Temporal Unfolding of Conceptual Metaphoric Experience. Metaphor and Symbol, [s. l.], v. 27, n. 4, p. 299-311, 2012. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2012.716299.
GIBBS, R. W.; SIMAN, J. How We Resist Metaphors. Language and Cognition, [s. l.], v. 13, n. 4, p. 670-692, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2021.18
GLUCKSBERG, S.; MCGLONE, M. When love is not a journey: What metaphors mean. Journal of Pragmatics, [s. l.], v. 31, p. 1541-1558, 1999. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00003-X.
GOATLY, A. Washing the Brain – Metaphor and Hidden Ideology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007. Disponível em: https://benjamins.com/catalog/dapsac.23. Acesso em: 23 fev. 2022.
HOLYOAK, K. J.; STAMENKOVIĆ, D. Metaphor comprehension: A critical review of theories and evidence. Psychological Bulletin, US, v. 144, n. 6, p. 641-671, 2018. DOI: 10.1037/bul0000145.
KÖVECSES, Z. Levels of metaphor. Cognitive Linguistics, [s. l.], v. 28, n. 2, p. 321–347, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2016-0052
KÖVECSES, Z. Where Metaphors Come From: Reconsidering Context in Metaphor. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015. Disponível em: https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190224868.001.0001/acprof-9780190224868. Acesso em: 13 nov. 2021.
LAKOFF, G. The All New Don’t Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate. Special ediçãoed. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2014.
LAKOFF, G. The Contemporary Theory of Metaphor. In: ORTONY, A. (ed.). Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. p. 202-251.
LAKOFF, G. The neural theory of metaphor. In: GIBBS, Jr., Raymond W. (org.). The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology). p. 17-38. Disponível em: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-handbook-of-metaphor-and-thought/neural-theory-of-metaphor/4DE03C6035D38108853A36FAB1EB4A33. Acesso em: 25 jan. 2022.
LAKOFF, G.; JOHNSON, M. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980.
MCGLONE, M. S. Conceptual Metaphors and Figurative Language Interpretation: Food for Thought?. Journal of Memory and Language, [s. l.], v. 35, n. 4, p. 544-565, 1996. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1996.0029.
MILLER, K. A.; RANEY, G. E.; DEMOS, A. P. Time to Throw in the Towel? No Evidence for Automatic Conceptual Metaphor Access in Idiom Processing. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, [s. l.], v. 49, n. 5, p. 885–913, 2020. DOI: 10.1007/s10936-020-09728-1
NICK REID, J.; KATZ, A. N. Something false about conceptual metaphors. Metaphor and Symbol, United Kingdom, v. 33, n. 1, p. 36–47, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2018.1407994
SEMINO, E.; DEMJÉN, Z.; DEMMEN, J. An Integrated Approach to Metaphor and Framing in Cognition, Discourse, and Practice, with an Application to Metaphors for Cancer. Applied Linguistics, [s. l.], p. amw028, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amw028
SIMAN, J. H. Metaphor peace: a complex systems approach to metaphors and cognition. 2022. 232 f. Tese (Doutorado do Departamento de Linguística) - Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 2022.
SIMAN, J. H.; FIGUEIREDO, N. M. de. Multiple representational and dynamic conceptual analysis in the wild. Fórum Linguístico, [s. l.], v. 18, n. 3, p. 6604–6621, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5007/1984-8412.2021.e74461
SIMAN, J. H.; MORATO, E. M. Os frames biomédico e biopsicossocial em discursos sobre a doença de alzheimer. PROLÍNGUA, [s. l.], v. 11, n. 1, 2016. Disponível em: https://periodicos3.ufpb.br/index.php/prolingua/article/view/30626. Acesso em: 25 jan. 2022.
SIMAN, J. H.; SAMPAIO, T. O. da M. Teoria da metáfora conceptual:. Porto das Letras, [s. l.], v. 7, n. 1, p. 201-220, 2021.
SIMAN, J. H.; SAMPAIO, T. O. da M.; JÚNIOR, L. C. G. An exploratory study of metaphor types and tasks. ALFA: Revista de Linguística, [s. l.], v. 66, 2022. Disponível em: https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/alfa/article/view/14752. Acesso em: 27 ago. 2022.
SPIVEY, M. The Continuity of Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Disponível em: https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195170788.001.0001/acprof-
Acesso em: 13 nov. 2021.
SPIVEY, M. The continuity of mind. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. (Oxford psychology series, v. 44).
STEEN, G. Deliberate Metaphor Theory: Basic assumptions, main tenets, urgent issues. Intercultural Pragmatics, [s. l.], v. 14, n. 1, p. 1-24, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2017-0001.
THIBODEAU, P. H.; BORODITSKY, L. Metaphors We Think With: The Role of Metaphor in Reasoning. PLoS ONE, [s. l.], v. 6, n. 2, p. e16782, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0016782.
THIBODEAU, P.; DURGIN, F. H. Productive figurative communication: Conventional metaphors facilitate the comprehension of related novel metaphors. Journal of Memory and Language, [s. l.], v. 58, n. 2, p. 521-540, 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2007.05.001.
