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Figurative language, such as verbal irony, metaphor, hyperbole,
idioms, and other forms is an increasingly important subfield
within the empirical study of language comprehension and use.
"Figurative Language Comprehension: Social and Cultural Influences"
is an edited scholarly book that ties together recent research
concerning the social and cultural influences on figurative
language cognition. These influences include gender, cultural
differences, economic status, and inter-group effects, among
others. The effects these influences have on people's use,
comprehension, and even processing of figurative language, comprise
the main theme of this volume. No other book offers such a look at
the social and cultural influences on a whole family of figurative
forms at several levels of cognition.
This volume is of great interest to scholars and professionals in
the disciplines of social and cognitive psychology,
psycholinguistics, and second language acquisition, as well as
cognitive and other fields of linguistics where scholars have
interests in pragmatics, metaphor, symbol, discourse, and
narrative. Some knowledge of the empirical and experimental methods
used in language research, as well as some familiarity with
theories underlying the use, comprehension, and processing of
figurative language would be helpful to readers of this book.
Our understanding of the nature and processing of figurative
language is central to several important issues in cognitive
science, including the relationship of language and thought, how we
process language, and how we comprehend abstract meaning. Over the
past fifteen years, traditional approaches to these issues have
been challenged by experimental psychologists, linguists, and other
cognitive scientists interested in the structures of the mind and
the processes that operate on them. In Figurative Language and
Thought, internationally recognized experts in the field of
figurative language, Albert Katz, Mark Turner, Raymond W. Gibbs
Jr., and Cristina Cacciari, provide a coherent and focused debate
on the subject. The book's authors discuss a variety of fundamental
questions, including: What can figures of speech tell us about the
structure of the conceptual system? If and how should we
distinguish the literal from the nonliteral in our theories of
language and thought? Are we primarily figurative thinkers and
consequently figurative language users or the other way around? Why
do we prefer to speak metaphorically in everyday conversation, when
literal options may be available for use? Is metaphor the only
vehicle through which we can understand abstract concepts? What
role do cultural and social factors play in our comprehension of
figurative language? These and related questions are raised and
argued in an integrative look at the role of nonliteral language in
cognition. This volume, a part of Counterpoints series, will be
thought-provoking reading for a wide range of cognitive
psychologists, linguists, and philosophers.
Research on metaphor has been dominated by Aristotelian questions
of processes in metaphor understanding. Although this area is
important, it leaves unasked Platonic questions of how structures
of the mind affect such processes. Moreover, there has been
relatively little work on how metaphors affect human behavior.
Although there are numerous postdictive or speculative accounts of
the power of metaphors to affect human behavior in particular
areas, such as clinical or political arenas, empirical verification
of these accounts has been sparse. To fill this void, the editors
have compiled this work dedicated to empirical examination of how
metaphors affect human behavior and understanding. The book is
divided into four sections: metaphor and pragmatics, clinical uses
of metaphor, metaphor and politics, and other applications of
metaphor. Chapters contained within these sections attempt to merge
Aristotelian questions with Platonic ones.
Figurative language, such as verbal irony, metaphor, hyperbole,
idioms, and other forms is an increasingly important subfield
within the empirical study of language comprehension and use.
Figurative Language Comprehension: Social and Cultural Influences
is an edited scholarly book that ties together recent research
concerning the social and cultural influences on figurative
language cognition. These influences include gender, cultural
differences, economic status, and inter-group effects, among
others. The effects these influences have on people's use,
comprehension, and even processing of figurative language, comprise
the main theme of this volume. No other book offers such a look at
the social and cultural influences on a whole family of figurative
forms at several levels of cognition. This volume is of great
interest to scholars and professionals in the disciplines of social
and cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, and second language
acquisition, as well as cognitive and other fields of linguistics
where scholars have interests in pragmatics, metaphor, symbol,
discourse, and narrative. Some knowledge of the empirical and
experimental methods used in language research, as well as some
familiarity with theories underlying the use, comprehension, and
processing of figurative language would be helpful to readers of
this book.
Research on metaphor has been dominated by Aristotelian questions
of processes in metaphor understanding. Although this area is
important, it leaves unasked Platonic questions of how structures
of the mind affect such processes. Moreover, there has been
relatively little work on how metaphors affect human behavior.
Although there are numerous postdictive or speculative accounts of
the power of metaphors to affect human behavior in particular
areas, such as clinical or political arenas, empirical verification
of these accounts has been sparse.
To fill this void, the editors have compiled this work dedicated
to empirical examination of how metaphors affect human behavior and
understanding. The book is divided into four sections: metaphor and
pragmatics, clinical uses of metaphor, metaphor and politics, and
other applications of metaphor. Chapters contained within these
sections attempt to merge Aristotelian questions with Platonic
ones.
Our understanding of the nature and processing of figurative language is central to several important issues in cognitive science, including the relationship of language and thought, how we process language, and how we comprehend abstract meaning. Points on these and related questions are raised and argued by internationally recognized experts in the area of figurative language.
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