Finding Metaphor in Grammar and Usage: A methodological analysis of theory and research(10 Converging Evidence in Language and Communication Research)

Cognitive linguists have proposed that metaphor is not just a matter of language but of thought, and that metaphorical thought displays a high degree of conventionalization. In order to produce converging evidence for this theory of metaphor, a wide range of data is currently being studied with a large array of methods and techniques. Finding Metaphor in Grammar and Usage aims to map the field of this development in theory and research from a methodological perspective. It raises the question when exactly evidence for metaphor in language and thought can be said to count as converging. It also goes into the various stages of producing such evidence (conceptualization, operationalization, data collection and analysis, and interpretation). The book offers systematic discussion of eight distinct areas of metaphor research that emerge as a result of approaching metaphor as part of grammar or usage, language or thought, and symbolic structure or cognitive process.

Table of Contents:
1. Preface; 2. Ackowledgements; 3. Part I. Foundations; 4. Chapter 1. Mapping the field; 5. Chapter 2. The deductive approach; 6. Chapter 3. Conceptualization: Theoretical definitions; 7. Chapter 4. Operationalization: Operational definitions; 8. Chapter 5. Application: Data collection and analysis; 9. Part II. Finding metaphor in grammar; 10. Chapter 6. Linguistic forms in grammar; 11. Chapter 7. Conceptual structures in grammar (1): Domains; 12. Chapter 8. Conceptual structures in grammar (2): Mappings; 13. Chapter 9. Cognitive processes and products in grammar; 14. Part III: Finding metaphor in usage; 15. Chapter 10. Linguistic forms and conceptual structures in usage (1): Metaphorical language use; 16. Chapter 11. Linguistic forms and conceptual structures in usage (2): Other forms of metaphor; 17. Chapter 12. Cognitive processes and products in usage; 18. Conclusion; 19. Chapter 13. Evidence for metaphor in grammar and usage; 20. References; 21. Index

Review :
The level of detail and the attempts to cut through the almost impenetrable tangle of terms and assumptions in recent metaphor research mean that this is going to be an important book for researchers from all traditions. Steen’s desire that metaphor research should be transparent, consistent and replicable is to be commended. The book will be much cited. This volume is a must-have for anyone interested in metaphor research. It offers authoritative, up-to-date coverage of theory and research on metaphor, while preserving a rich, usage-based perspective. It covers the major theories of metaphor, including conceptual metaphor, blending, structure-mapping and categorization-based approaches, and does so in a clear, highly readable fashion. A particularly valuable feature for instructors and students is a set of tables in which Steen systematizes and compares positions and predictions across the major theories of metaphor. Reading of this monograph will leave no doubt as to the fact that the author was able to present his claims in a systematic and efficient manner. The architecture of the book consequently builds its arguments, the coverage of the field (albeit restricted to just one approach, cognitive linguistics) is most comprehensive, the conclusions are logically driven and clearly stated. This book is an important step in increasing the level of methodological rigor in metaphor research, and, more broadly, in cognitive linguistics. With this excellent book cognitive linguistics becomes more methodologically self-aware however in its level of formalization still remains far-apart from formal approaches. Gerard Steen’s important and provocative book addresses the problem of how to reliably identify metaphors and adequately account for their symbolic and conceptual structure, as well as their production and comprehension. Steen’s research agenda is ambitious. He develops a multidimensional procedural approach to metaphor identification and description that, at each stage, is guided by transparent intersubjective verifiable principles. This monograph is a most welcome contribution to the study of metaphor. It is bound to stimulate discussion about the empirical validity of current conceptual metaphor theories. Steen's detailed discussion of research into metaphor in language and thought is extremely timely in its tackling of methodological issues that have often been neglected in the excitement of rapid theoretical developments in the field. [...] For me, the complexity of the prose, both at the level of sentence and of argumentation, meant that the book is not an easy read- perhaps this is inevitable given the range of topics covered and the ambitious depth. However, this is a minor criticism of what is a significant contribution in the field, one that will form core reading for current and future researchers of metaphor.