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Metaphor in Discourse by Elena SeminoMona F. Attia a

a Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

To cite this Article Attia, Mona F.(2009) 'Metaphor in Discourse by Elena Semino', Metaphor and Symbol, 24: 4, 263 — 265To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/10926480903310393URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10926480903310393

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Metaphor and Symbol, 24: 263–267, 2009Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1092-6488 print / 1532-7868 onlineDOI: 10.1080/10926480903310393

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BOOK REVIEWS

Book ReviewsBook ReviewsMetaphor in Discourse. Elena Semino. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008, xii +247 pages, $110.00 (hardcover), $34.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-0521686969.

Reviewed by Mona F. AttiaHelwan University

Cairo, Egyptmonafouada@yahoo.com

Metaphor is a pervasive phenomenon in human language, thought, and communication, thus itdeserves a detailed examination of its forms, functions and uses in different types of discourse.Semino’s Metaphor in Discourse is a step towards achieving this aim.

No book on such a wide topic as metaphor can cover everything; however, Semino’s book isalmost comprehensive. The book deals with the forms and functions of metaphor in differentgenres. To prove the persuasiveness of this phenomenon in language, Semino explores the use ofmetaphor in different discourses that are typically associated with metaphor, for example, literature,politics, and advertising, as well as discourses that are not prototypical for metaphor, for example,science, education. The book is divided into seven chapters: Besides the introduction and the con-clusion, four chapters cover the use of metaphor in different discourses. The fifth chapter relates thestudy of metaphor to corpus linguistics, representing corpus-based approaches to metaphor.

The first chapter begins with a comment on the title of the book, defining its terms. Metaphor refersto “the phenomenon whereby we talk and, potentially, think about something in terms of somethingelse” (p. 1). Discourse refers to “naturally occurring language use: real instances of writing or speechwhich are produced and interpreted in particular circumstances and for particular purposes” (p. 1).

Studying the forms and functions of metaphor in different texts, genres and discourses,Semino aims at emphasising “the relationship between individual uses of metaphor in specificcontexts and conventional metaphorical patterns in language generally” (p. 1).

To introduce her approach, she gives the example of an article dealing with the G8 summit inScotland, explaining its use of metaphors in relation to achieving rhetorical goals: differentevaluations of what has been achieved and persuading readers of different ideologies. She thenproceeds to state some theoretical background, discussing different concepts in relation to theexample given at the beginning of the chapter, which helps the reader to grasp these concepts.These concepts include metaphor and thought in relation to conceptual metaphor theory, as wellas metaphor and ideology. She then presents the approach she adopts to explore the use ofmetaphor in authentic discourse. She shows how the approach relates the conceptual patternsreflected in language to the use of specific metaphoric expressions in particular texts, genres,

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and discourses, also taking the element of culture into consideration. The points covered in chap.1 are elaborated and exemplified in the following chapters, mainly chaps. 2 to 5.

Indeed, the book is well structured and well organised. Chaps. 2 to 4 have a similar structure,with each covering a different type of discourse. Each chapter begins with a preliminary example,followed by a discussion of metaphor with respect to the specified discourse type. Then two casestudies are discussed in detail. This organisation is helpful as the preliminary example prefigureswhat follows, which makes the theoretical part quite accessible and useful to the reader.

In chap. 2, the preliminary example from a novel is explored to show how the use of metaphorcan express personal, subjective experience; how conventional and novel metaphors are cre-atively exploited; and how this combination of conventional and novel metaphors creates com-plex textual patterns. To discuss such uses of metaphor, Semino refers to Lakoff and Turner’s(1989) typology of novel metaphors in poetry; however, her analysis goes beyond their typology:To theoretically discuss the use of metaphor in literature, she states its relation to genre, author,and text. The two case studies demonstrate “the power of metaphorical choices and patterns inconveying particular mental experiences and in projecting contrasting world-views” (p. 80).

Chap. 3, which covers the extensive use of metaphor in politics, focuses on its persuasivefunction in this type of discourse and its relationship to ideology. Semino relates discourse as alinguistic phenomenon to ideology as a cognitive phenomenon, with the use of metaphorsserving as a link between the two. Metaphoric patterns are a manifestation of ideology; at thesame time, ideology determines metaphoric patterns and discourse in general. The chapter alsodiscusses the different source domains (e.g. PATH/JOURNEY, CONTAINER, WAR, SPORTS,and HUMAN BEINGS.) and target domains used in politics, as well as the different metaphori-cal choices and patterns within and across texts in political discourse.

Chap. 4 discusses the use of metaphor in discourses that are not typically associated withmetaphors. Semino provides data from scientific journals addressed to experts as well as materi-als addressing learners and popularising scientific materials addressing nonexperts. She tries toshow the variety of functions that metaphors can perform in this particular type of discourse.Similar to political discourse, metaphors here can be used for explanatory and persuasive pur-poses. Moreover, the use of metaphor in relation to scientific issues can play a role in influenc-ing public opinion, which in turn affects public policy. As for educational purposes, metaphorhelps students understand unfamiliar concepts; it also makes what seem difficult topics moreaccessible. What is noticeable is that the source domains used for scientific expert genres andthose used for pedagogical purposes are nearly similar, for example, WASTE DISPOSAL.

Chap. 5 is rather different from the previous chapters, as it does not focus on one maindiscourse but covers the use of metaphors in advertising and in the discourses of illness. Eachsection contains an introduction and a case study. In advertising, metaphors have two functions.First, they are a means of attracting attention; second, they are a means of presenting the adver-tised product in terms of other entities to transfer the positive properties of the source domainonto it. Employing metaphor in advertisements usually involves visual metaphors. The analysisof the use of metaphors in the discourse of illness has shown significant differences betweenthose used by sufferers and nonsufferers. Sufferers represent depression mainly as “a physicalentity” or as “a journey,” whereas nonsufferers represent it as “problems with vision” or as “thesnapping of an elastic band.”

Chap. 6 explores the contribution of corpus linguistics to the study of metaphor. In the pre-liminary example opening the chapter, Semino clarifies how to select (mostly) readily available

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corpora and how to exploit them for metaphor analysis. She presents a number of possibleapproaches to analyse metaphors: the use of general-purpose corpora, mainly to test the validityof claims made within conceptual metaphor theory; the study of metaphorical patterns incorpora representing a particular genre; the use of metaphor in corpora in different languages toinvestigate the similarities and differences across languages and cultures. This classificationmakes it easier for scholars to proceed with a corpus-based study of metaphor. Semino arguesfor the importance of the use of a corpus-based approach to metaphor as it has “led to furtherinsights and raised further issues to be investigated” (p. 200). Semino demonstrates how acorpus-based approach helps not only in reaching general claims about metaphor use but alsoabout “the rhetorical, ideological functions of metaphor, and the role it plays in particular genresand discourses” (p. 205).

Chap. 7 wraps up the ideas covered in the book. Semino asserts that her approach to meta-phor brings together complementary fields: cognitive metaphor theory, stylistics, criticaldiscourse analysis, and corpus linguistics. She summarises the main points demonstratedthroughout the book; she then focuses on some points that received little attention. She shedslight on metaphorical creativity, pointing out that creativity in metaphor use has different formsand performs different functions, occurring at both the linguistic and conceptual levels ofmetaphor. Semino’s final conclusion is a recommendation for further and more systematiccorpus-based investigation of the use of metaphor.

The book represents an insightful exploration of metaphor in different discourses and manygenres. Thus, the book has both theoretical and practical significance. Throughout the book,Semino discusses in detail many examples that clarify her points and even considers someinstances of visual metaphor. However, she has left out one main genre: naturally occurringconversation, which could have added much more richness and comprehensiveness to her book.

Metaphor in Discourse is highly recommended for students, researchers, and scholarsinterested in the study of metaphor as well as (critical) discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics,stylistics, and corpus linguistics. The reader does not have to read the book in a particular order;most of the chapters can be read separately. What adds to the usefulness of the book is having asimple, clear, comprehensive glossary at the end of the book.

In conclusion, the book makes a significant contribution to the interface of metaphor studies,(critical) discourse analysis, cognitive linguistics, stylistics, and corpus linguistics.

REFERENCE

Lakoff, G., & Turner, M. (1989). More than cool reason: A field guide to poetic metaphor. Chicago: University ofChicago Press.

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Political Language and Metaphor: Interpreting and Changing the World. Terrell Carver andJernej Pikalo (Eds.). London: Routledge, 2008, xiv + 293 pages, $160.00 (hardcover), ISBN978-0-415-41735-8.

Reviewed by Ralph MüllerUniversité de Fribourg/Universität Freiburg, Switzerland

ralph.mueller@unifr.ch

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