Unlocking Metaphor

The Creative Power of Figurative Language
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-009-52294-6
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 279 Seiten

'The traffic was a nightmare today'; 'you're a star'; 'he's an early bird'; 'we need to get our ducks in a row'. Metaphors like these are so enmeshed within our language that we barely realise we are using them. This book, written by world-renowned expert, provides a clear, comprehensive discussion of how we understand and use metaphor, with a focus on ordinary conversation. It begins by defining metaphors, moving on to explore their communicative role in a range of settings across regular and professional life, and finishing with an overview of the main theoretical approaches to metaphor. Drawing on current research findings, each chapter concludes with a brief discussion of how the topics covered are useful in everyday communication. Ideas are explained in non-technical language, using examples from real-life conversation - making it ideal for students of Communication, Linguistics and Psychology, or anyone interested in the fascinating world of metaphor.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ritchie, L. David

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of figures; List of concept maps; Preface; About the cover; 1. Encounters with metaphor; 2. Thinking, communicating and language; 3. Identifying and classifying metaphors; 4. Conceptual metaphors; 5. Attributes, similes and categories; 6. Analogy and structure-mapping; 7. Metaphorical stories; 8. Cultural contexts and metaphor; 9. Visual and other cross-modal metaphors; 10. Metaphorical framing; 11. Metaphor interpretation: putting it all together; Chapter notes; Glossary; References; Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Ritchie, L. David
L. David Ritchie is Professor Emeritus of Communication at Portland State University. He has published extensively in metaphor theory and analysis, humor, and cognition, most recently Metaphorical Stories in Discourse (CUP, 2017) and Feeling, Thinking, and Talking (CUP, 2022).