The Relevance of Metaphor

This book considers metaphor as a communicative phenomenon in the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop and Seamus Heaney, in light of the relevance theory account of communication first developed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson in the 1980s. The first half of the book introduces relevance theory, situating it in relation to literary criticism, and then surveys the history of metaphor in literary studies and assesses relevance theory's account of metaphor, including recent developments within the theory such as Robyn Carston's notion of 'the lingering of the literal'. The second half of the book considers the role of metaphor in the work of three nineteenth- and twentieth-century poets through the lens of three terms central to relevance theory: inference, implicature and mutual manifestness. The volume will be of interest to students and scholars working in literary studies, pragmatics and stylistics, as well as to relevance theorists.

Traces the development of relevance theory and its implications for literary criticism Considers recent developments in relevance-theoretic thinking about metaphor Explores the idea that relevance theory might contribute to literary critical understanding of metaphor

Autorentext

Josie O'Donoghue is a Research Fellow in English at Clare College, University of Cambridge, UK.

Inhalt

Chapter1. Introduction: Communicating Metaphor.- Chapter 2. Relevance.- Chapter 3. Metaphor.- Chapter 4. The impossible metaphors: Inference in the poetry of Emily Dickinson.- Chapter 5. Things as they are: Implicature in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop.- Chapter 6. Mutual Manifestness in the Poetry of Seamus Heaney.- Chapter 7. Conclusion.