Critical Approaches to Metaphor

Abstract

Aristotle believed that metaphors were implicit comparisons based on principles of analogy; this traditional theory of metaphor has become known as the comparison view of metaphor. In this view the role of metaphor in discourse is the rather superficial one of enhancing stylistic elegance through linguistic ornamentation. However, if we critically examine metaphor in context we will see that it is a great deal more than this because it influences the type of value judgements that we make. Let us consider an example: taken out of context, it may appear that the phrase ‘blood is shed’ is a neutral description of a situation in which someone is injured or killed. However, when we examine the twenty-eight occurrences in the Bank of English,¹ we find that it implies a negative evaluation of the agent (i.e. the person responsible for the killing or injury), for example:

It’s one in which ambitious and untalented writers blow up real churches, libraries, hospitals and entire cities, one in which real blood is shed and real men, women, children and farm animals are butchered, all with the blessing of real priests. (Guardian)