What is metaphor and why does it matter?

Lynne Cameron

TheMetaphor Network

MetNet

What is metaphor?

A device for seeing something in terms of something else (Burke, 1945, p.503)

Metaphor is

linguistic

cognitive

affective

socio-cultural

Metaphor is linguistic

Linguistic metaphor is the use of a word or phrase that brings (or could bring) some other meaning to the contextual meaning.

• potential, not necessarily active• conventionalised as well as novel or deliberate • weak as well as strong

The word or phrase that brings the other meaning is the metaphor Vehicle.

Language

+ gesture

spoken discourse – the production and interpretation of metaphors in the dynamics of talk

written discourse – the use of metaphors by the writer and interpretation by readers

Metaphor is cognitive

Conceptual metaphor is a cross-domain mapping in the conceptual system

(Lakoff, 1993, p.203)

Everyday language reveals systems of metaphorical mappings.

Metaphor is affective

The Vehicle terms of linguistic metaphors often carry evaluations, attitudes, values, beliefs, perspectives.

I’m going to give you a little bit of information.

We’re going to look at…

Metaphor is socio-cultural

• as well as individual

• group metaphors: porridge, screws

• speech communities:– I hear what you say– I see what you mean

Metaphor offers a tool for understanding people

• Metaphor connects language and thinking.

• Linguistic metaphors in dialogue indicate socio-cultural conventions and speakers’ attitudes and values.

• As text and talk proceed, metaphors are selected, adapted, shifted.

An example of metaphor analysis

The Discourse Dynamics of Metaphor in Conciliation Talk

Research funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board

The Grand Hotel, Brighton, 1984

Pat Magee & Jo Berry, 2000

The discourse dynamics of metaphor

a search for patterns of metaphor use across discourse events

is combined with

close investigation of the negotiation of metaphors between speakers at the moment of use

Procedure (i)

Identification of linguistic metaphors analysis of

discourse action, discourse topics

and themesaggregation into semantically-

connected groups

systematic metaphors

Procedure (ii)

Identification of linguistic metaphors analysis of

discourse action, discourse topics

and themesanalysis of distribution of

metaphors across talk or text

metaphor clusters

Starting Points:

at the beginningas a republican… I felt obliged as a republicanto sit down and talk about thatand against the backdrop of the political reasonsgiven a platformfor a republican messagethat had been censored for decadessowhen offered an opportunityto sit downand talk about what motivated youthen you shouldavail of thatso that’s the way I walked into it

Pat

Starting Points:

but as I said

when you meet somebody

who’s so open

to understanding your perspective

then you’re obliged to somehow reciprocate

Starting Points:

in er,

the first few days after the bomb

just thinking

if only I could bring something positive out of this

and feeling very strongly

that my father was killed

because he was part of a conflict

and it was a conflict which I was suddenly emotionally involved in

Jo

Starting Points

and I realised

I wanted to hear Pat’s story

because I believe that

if anyone opens up and shares their story

ehm

it’s very hard to hate

and my idea of Pat

was of someone

without much humanity

and I wanted to meet him

and hear his story

and discover his humanity

later on also came the idea that I wanted him

to hear my story

Research question• How does metaphor contribute to the

process of reconciliation?

• Data and evidence– Global metaphor use

• systematic use of metaphors• metaphor clusters and absences

– Local metaphor use• how speakers use and negotiate metaphors

Metaphors Alterity Discourse topics

time

To A

Identifying clusters

of metaphors

Using statistical analysis and visual display (reported in Cameron & Stelma, 2004, Journal of Applied Linguistics).

time

Cluster

Identifying clusters

Example cluster Pat ...(1.0) got a distorted picture of me.

perhaps, I don't know... I don't know.

Jo .. I think maybe they were just thinking,they wouldn't see a need to meet any of their victims.

Pat yeahyeah

Jo .. and so they ... therefore couldn't see why you would.Pat [hmh]Jo [and] I think it was more like that.Pat ... hmhJo and they could see,

... how from my healing journey,if I could build a bridge with you, that would ...(1.0) help me.but they couldn't see --... perhaps there was even a need for a journey.

When clusters occur

• doing intensive interactional work – often difficult interpersonally:– explaining one’s point of view to the Other

• expressing emotional pain; • explaining something the Other would find

painful e.g. why Jo’s father was a target

– discourse management • getting the talk started• finding a new topic

Using clusters in analysis

• Metaphor clusters offer a way to slice the data.– Find clusters and look inside them.

• Important things may be happening there.

• Absences of metaphor occur with– talk about concrete things– very significant moments, e.g. expression of

raw emotion.

Metaphor Vehicles and TopicsLinguistic metaphors were grouped by Vehicle domains:

Inside these Vehicle groupings, metaphors were connected by shared Topics.

Systematic Metaphors

Systematic metaphors are connected sets of linguistic metaphors used around a single Topic across a discourse event..

.. there's been a long long .. 16 years of [getting to this point].

the first conciliation meeting is a stage on a journey

.. the end of that journey,would be,.. sitting down and,... talking to the people who did it.

something I have to go through.

... and how you ... come to terms with that,

More examples

it's such a painful thing to carry.

it pains me to say that to you.

coming to terms with responsibility is a journey

coming to terms with responsibility is physical injury

Top 10 systematic metaphors

Major systematic metaphors used to frame reconciliation

JOURNEYS – bring something positive out of this

CONNECTION– I was crying in a desert

SEEING MORE CLEARLY– it’s never the whole picture

LISTENING TO A STORY– I wanted to … hear his story

Understanding the Other requires connection

• building bridges

• breaking down barriers

• being open

building bridges

Pat ... (1.0) in the er --

the journey,

...(1.0) coming ... to a bridge,/

... you [know].

Jo [hmh]

Pat ... with two ends,

Pat all those bridges are there to be built

connection and separationJo .. and it felt like my heart was broken,

... through the conflict.

...(1.0) and,

... the suffering was .. my suffering.I couldn't separate it.I couldn't be detached anymore.

Pat hmhJo .. and that --

...(1.0) that um,

.. that pain,that loss, ... was shared by, .. by everyone.

The removal of barriers allows connection

Jo <X where X> victims of all sides have been meeting, .. and --er,... (1.0) that is just about, ... er,.. br- breaking down barriers,sharing stories, and --

Pat hmhJo ... and through .. experiencing each other's stories,Pat hmhJo ... there's a real feeling of, ...

closeness and humanity of everyone,

(re)conciliation happens through listening to the Other’s story

Pat but you are also,and I find you very open.... to my story.where I --.. er,... I feel there is more to me than just a perpetrator....(1.0) and er,...(1.0) I suppose,...(1.0) what we're doing here.... is,.. exchanging our stories.

The figurative range of storyPat six killed --

people killed in one night....

and there are so many other stories like that.

Pat be open to … the other person’s story

Jo you offer me the story pain of your war

The flexibility of story

Jo .. as a daughter of a conservative MP,

I .. can sort of take responsibility for the --

...(1.0) what the government .. didn't do.

and,

.. the not listening,

not hearing [their story].

Local patterns of metaphor use• Challenge the other’s metaphor.

– a bridge with two ends

• Appropriate the other’s metaphor Vehicle for own topic.– my healing

• Adapt the other’s metaphor.– the struggle a struggle

• Use contrast metaphor to explore alternatives.– if my heart was closed

metaphor scenario constructionAfter the bombing, Jo Berry and Pat Magee complete separate journeys, long and on foot, until they meet face-to-face and try to connect across the gap between their experiences. Jo’s journey has the aim of understanding the roots of violence and is a long, uphill journey on foot, sometimes following the path of journeys made by the bombers, sometimes stopping to meet other victims. The journey out of grief becomes a healing process. Pat does not talk much about his life up between the bombing and the meeting, but speaks of an earlier journey when, as a young man, he joined the IRA and agreed to use violence…

How does metaphor contribute to the process of reconciliation?

• Metaphor density, compared with other types of talk.– number per 1000 words

• Distribution of clusters and absences.

• Use of systematic metaphors by the two speakers.

• Changes over time in use of systematic metaphors.

How does metaphor contribute to the process of reconciliation?

• It offers ways to explore alternatives to violence and revenge.

• It allows victim and perpetrator to explain their feelings to the Other, and to feel empathy for the Other.

• It allows speakers to control and adjust the ‘affective climate’ of the talk.

• Small acts of reconciliation e.g. allowing appropriation of metaphor, contribute to the large process.

ReferencesBurke, K. (1945). A Grammar of Motives. New York: Prentice Hall.Cameron, L. (1999). Identifying and describing metaphor in spoken discourse

data. In L. Cameron & G. Low (Eds.), Researching and Applying Metaphor (pp. 105-132). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cameron, L. (1999). Operationalising metaphor for applied linguistic research. In L. Cameron & G. Low (Eds.), Researching and Applying Metaphor (pp. 3-28). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cameron, L. (2003). Metaphor in Educational Discourse. London: Continuum.Cameron, L. (in press). Patterns of metaphor use in reconciliation talk.

Discourse and Society.Cameron, L., & Stelma, J. (2004). Metaphor clusters in discourse. Journal of

Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 7-36.Lakoff, G. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.),

Metaphor and Thought (2nd ed., pp. 202-251). New York: Cambridge University Press.