METAPHOR: A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION A Practical Introduction

This clear and lucid primer fills an important need by providing a comprehensive account of the many new developments in the study of metaphor over the last twenty years and their impact on our understanding of language, culture, and the mind. Beginning with Lakoff and Johnson's seminal work in Metaphors We Live By, Kovecses outlines the development of "the cognitive linguistic theory of metaphor" by explaining key ideas on metaphor. He also explores primary metaphor, metaphor systems, the "invariance principle," mental-imagery experiments, the many-space blending theory, and the role of image schemas in metaphorical thought. He examines the applicability of these ideas to numerous related fields.

Metaphor is an accessible introduction to current thinking on metaphor, suitable for undergraduates and non-specialists. It explains key ideas on metaphor and supplies a coherent overview of the last twenty years of research and its effects on our understanding of language, culture, and mind. As with metaphor itself, its target market extends to cognitive science, theoretical and applied linguistics, English psychology, communications, literature, rhetoric and other areas. This book is a much needed primer that will be indispensible as a classrom text and to the general reader.