For many people it seems that the application and analysis of metaphors only belongs to the field of literary studies. There are, however, such a large number of metaphorical expressions and lexicalized, so-called “frozen metaphors” in both German and English that the importance of metaphors exceeds by far their poetic usage.
For Grice, metaphors result from the flouting of the first maxim (Quality) – that of not saying what one believes to be false. Metaphorical expressions hence provoke a search for the intended speaker meaning because of the obvious discrepancy between the proposition expressed by the utterance and the “falseness” of its content. This “falseness”, however, is not always clear to see. Take, for example, the metaphor “no man is an island”. It is obviously metaphorical in both content and meaning and one could deduce a whole range of weak implicatures from it but it is in no way “literally false”.
Considering that Grice labelled tropes and figures of speech (such as tautology, irony and metaphor) as cases of “maxim exploitation” , it seems reasonable to analyse a text which allows for a maximum of maxim exploitation and whose author is responsible for a large number of frozen metaphors in English:
What makes Shakespeare (to name just one example) extraordinary is the way he exploited this ordinary aspect of communication so that a single line or phrase triggers the discovery of a whole array of implicatures.
The centre of this paper will thus be a linguistic analysis of metaphors and implicatures in Shakespeare’s play Much Ado about Nothing.
Table of Contents
Introduction
I Metaphors
1.1 Structural Metaphors
1.2 Orientational Metaphors
1.3 New Metaphors
1.4 Ontological Metaphors
2. Processing Effort and Contextual Effects
2.1 Strong and Weak Implicatures
2.2 Poetic Effects
2.3 Irony
3.1 Refernce Assignment
3.2 Disambiguation
3.3 Enrichment
3.4 Implicating
3.5 Implicatures in Proverbs
4. Metaphorical Extension
4.1 Small Extensions
4.2 Medium Extensions
4.3 Large Extensions
5. “Double Meaning” through Weak Implicatures
Research Objectives and Topics
The primary objective of this paper is to conduct a linguistic analysis of metaphors and implicatures within William Shakespeare's play "Much Ado about Nothing," focusing specifically on the interplay between metaphorical expressions and weak implicatures.
- The conceptual ubiquity of metaphor according to Lakoff and Johnson.
- The relationship between conversational maxims, relevance, and poetic effects.
- The role of contextual assumptions in the disambiguation of metaphorical language.
- Analysis of metaphorical extensions ranging from small to large in a literary context.
- The creation of "double meaning" through the generation of unintended weak implicatures.
Excerpt from the Book
1.1 Structural Metaphors
The fact, however, that metaphors are used even though literal language counterparts are available shows that they have become a fixed and “ordinary” part of our lexicon and act as “words”. The idea that metaphors (in our every-day language) are not an exception but the rule was elaborated by the before-mentioned linguists Lakoff and Johnson. Metaphors, they argue, are a necessity of the human mind which facilitate the structuring and understanding of complex or abstract concepts. Therefore, a large number of metaphors belong to the category “structural metaphors”. An example provided by Lakoff and Johnson where one structural concept is used for another one is the metaphorical concept “time is money”: The abstract concept “time” is regarded as a valuable resource with similar properties as the literal concept “money”. For that reason, utterances such as “you are wasting my time” or idiomatic expressions like “spending time” and “saving time” have become generally accepted metaphors in Western culture.
The understanding of such concepts – as Lakoff and Johnson do not forget to mention – is highly dependent on culture and society. For an analysis of metaphor in a Shakespearian context, some historical and cultural knowledge of the author and his times is therefore essential.
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: Provides a theoretical basis for metaphor analysis, referencing Lakoff, Johnson, and Grice to establish the importance of metaphors beyond mere poetic usage.
I Metaphors: Categorizes different types of metaphors including structural, orientational, and ontological metaphors, highlighting their role in the human conceptual system.
2. Processing Effort and Contextual Effects: Examines how implicatures are generated and processed, introducing the concepts of strong and weak implicatures as well as poetic effects.
2.1 Strong and Weak Implicatures: Discusses the degree of determinacy in implicatures and how speaker constraints influence hearer interpretation.
2.2 Poetic Effects: Explores how utterances achieve relevance through wide arrays of weak implicatures, bridging the gap between linguistic theory and poetry.
2.3 Irony: Analyzes irony as a phenomenon rooted in weak implicatures, distinguishing it from metaphor by its evaluative intention.
3.1 Refernce Assignment: Explores the pragmatic process of identifying referents within the dialogue of the play, specifically in the context of "jewel".
3.2 Disambiguation: Investigates the mental associations triggered by specific metaphorical terms and how the principle of relevance guides the selection of meaning.
3.3 Enrichment: Demonstrates how the semantic representation of an utterance is expanded through contextual assumptions to reach a fully understood proposition.
3.4 Implicating: Details the derivation of various implicatures from a single proposition to demonstrate the formation of a structural metaphor.
3.5 Implicatures in Proverbs: Analyzes the use of proverbial language in the play and how it relies on cultural and contextual knowledge for interpretation.
4. Metaphorical Extension: Examines how metaphors evolve in meaning over time, categorizing these changes into small, medium, and large extensions.
4.1 Small Extensions: Discusses lexicalized metaphors that are firmly rooted in the language, such as the metaphorical use of "food".
4.2 Medium Extensions: Addresses more creative and unconventional metaphorical usages that have not yet become standard lexicon.
4.3 Large Extensions: Explores complex metaphors that require significant historical and cultural knowledge, specifically the Elizabethan world picture.
5. “Double Meaning” through Weak Implicatures: Concludes the analysis by showing how characters can attribute non-intended meanings to utterances through the generation of weak implicatures.
Keywords
Metaphor, Implicature, Relevance Theory, Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing, Structural Metaphor, Ontological Metaphor, Poetic Effects, Pragmatics, Contextual Assumption, Disambiguation, Linguistic Analysis, Elizabethan World Picture, Weak Communication, Reference Assignment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper performs a linguistic analysis of how metaphors and implicatures function within Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing," exploring the bridge between literary usage and pragmatic communication theories.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The core themes include the categorization of metaphors (structural, ontological, etc.), the processing of communication via relevance, and the evolution of metaphorical meaning through extensions.
What is the primary research goal?
The goal is to demonstrate that metaphors and other figures of speech are not just ornamental, but are products of complex, subconscious inferential processes known as weak implicatures.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The research relies on pragmatics, specifically applying Gricean maxims and Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory to interpret the dialogue of Shakespeare's characters.
What is covered in the main section of the paper?
The main section moves from general metaphor theory to a granular, scene-by-scene linguistic breakdown of "Much Ado about Nothing," focusing on specific metaphorical instances and the derivations of meaning behind them.
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include Metaphor, Implicature, Pragmatics, Relevance Theory, and Linguistic Analysis, all viewed through the lens of Shakespearean literary interpretation.
How does the author explain the term "yoke" in the play?
The author identifies "yoke" as both an ontological metaphor and a prime example of metaphorical extension, shifting in meaning from its literal agrarian sense to an abstract concept of marriage and burden.
What does the paper conclude about "double meaning"?
It concludes that "double meaning" is often a product of the hearer's processing effort rather than the speaker's intent, showing that in weak communication, a listener can derive significant implicatures that were never consciously intended by the speaker.
- Quote paper
- Achim Binder (Author), 2003, Metaphors and implicatures in Shakespeare’s "Much Ado about Nothing", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/112739
