Navigating Ambiguity: Analyzing Linguistic, Conceptual and Deliberate Metaphors in Discourse
CERES-Palais, Raum "Ruhrpott" (4.13)
Gudrun Reijnierse (VU Amsterdam)
"Navigating Ambiguity: Analyzing linguistic, conceptual and deliberate metaphors in discourse"
In recent years, three levels of metaphor analysis have gained prominence in metaphor studies: the linguistic level, the conceptual level, and the communicative level. Whereas many studies take a top-down approach to analyse metaphors on these three levels, relying on predefined categories or mappings, I will argue that such approaches overlook the inherent ambiguity of metaphors in real-world discourse. Senders may intentionally exploit the multiple meanings and mappings of metaphors, leaving room for various interpretations. Similarly, recipients may interpret metaphors differently, depending on topic salience, contextual factors, and prior knowledge. To account for these possible ambiguities, I will discuss a number of methods that aim to identify, annotate, and analyse metaphors in systematic and flexible ways, thus allowing to examine how metaphors are strategically used and interpreted and revealing their full communicative potential.
