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Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Its Relevance to the Study of Metaphors in

Poetry

Conference Paper · August 2017

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Carina Rasse
Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt
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Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Its Relevance to
the Study of Metaphors in Poetry

Carina Rasse⇤1
1
Universität Klangenfurt – Universitätsstrae 65-67 Klangenfurt, Austria

Abstract

Introduction
The current paper relates to the research I am conducting for my dissertation and taps into
people’s processing of conceptual metaphors in poetry. Lako↵ and Johnson have famously
stated that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and
action. The main claim of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) is that we automatically
and unconsciously use conceptual cross-domain mappings to get a better understanding of
abstract concepts that we encounter. Building on works of K´’ovecses (2009; 2015) and
Forceville (1999) my paper explores whether CMT is relevant to the study of how people
create and process metaphors in poetry.

Methods and Expected Findings

Using Think Aloud Protocols, I will ask a group of people to reflect on the ways they
interpret metaphors in selected poems. Furthermore, I will ask the authors of my selected
poems to share their experiences on how they construct metaphors. Lako↵ and Johnson
claim that ”concepts that are used in metaphorical definitions to define other concepts cor-
respond to natural kinds of experience”; experiences that are product of our bodies, our
interactions with our physical environment, and our interaction with other people within
our culture (1980: 117). To explore whether poets also draw on their ‘natural kinds of ex-
periences’, I will use online interviews which address questions like: What are the origins
of the metaphors that you use? What are the factors that influence your construction of
metaphorical concepts? Is it a very intentional or unintentional process?

Conclusion

In my analysis I will compare the responses of the readers to the reflections of the authors
to detect similarities or di↵erences between the production and reception of metaphors in
poetry. I expect that personal experience, our relationships with others, and the interaction
with the environment play a crucial role in our engagements with figurative language.

Eventually, I hope that my paper can prove that CMT may shed new light on metaphor
production and comprehension within the context of poetic narratives.

Bibliography

⇤
Speaker

sciencesconf.org:metfest17:148549
 Forceville, Charles. 1999. ”The Metaphor ”COLIN IS A CHILD” in Ian McEwan’s, Harold
Pinter’s, and Paul Schrader’s The Comfort of Strangers.” Metaphor and Symbol 14(3): 179-
198.

K´’ovecses, Zoltán. 2009. ”Metaphor and Poetic Creativity: A Cognitive Linguistic Ac-
count.”Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica 1 (2):181–196.

. 2015. Where Metaphors Come From: Reconsidering Context in Metaphor. Oxford:

Oxford University Press
Lako↵, G. & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Keywords: conceptual metaphors, conceptual metaphor theory, metaphors in poetry

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