Towards an Improved Theory of Metaphor
Bellert on Metaphorical Interpretation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4375987 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J Christopher Maloney (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1983 |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 343 |
| Publication date | 1983-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Poetics Today (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0333-5372 • E-ISSN: 1527-5507 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1772293 |
| OpenAlex | W2334824025 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
Professor Irena Bellert's Holmes' Interpretation of Metaphorical Texts (1981) is a significant contribution towards a general theory of metaphor. Indeed, her notion of metaphorical interpretation, that is, a Sherlock Holmes' Interpretation, of a text (Bellert 1981:32-34) may be particularly helpful in resolving what Chana Kronfeld has called 'puzzle of metaphor': how [. . .] people understand each other's metaphors, and how [...] they produce these in such a way that is understandable to others (Kronfeld 1981:14).1 Nevertheless, I believe that Bellert's theory is flawed in several respects and hope that the following critical remarks may be useful in improving a very promising analysis of metaphor. Using in its common rather than Chomskian sense, Bellert maintains that producing and understanding metaphor require a level or kind of creativity not necessary to or characteristic of generating and comprehending literal language (Bellert 1981:26-27). From this fact, if it is a fact, she concludes that
Epistemology · Linguistics · Metaphor · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Lexicography and Language Studies · linguistics and terminology studies · Philosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |