12 2. Model as Metaphor
What one finds in language depends in large measure on what one expects to find. Among the factors that shape these expectations is metaphor, whose pervasiveness and formative
influence in our mental life have been emphasized in a number of recent studies Lakoff and
Johnson 1980 ;
Lakoff 1987 ;
Turner 1987 ;
Lakoff and Turner 1989 . Metaphor plays an
important role in virtually all phases of scientific inquiry, and there is perhaps no field where this is more apparent than in linguistics. Of course, the indisputable power of metaphor does
not come without certain dangers. In particular, one has no guarantee that a seemingly apt metaphor will actually prove appropriate and helpful when pushed beyond the limited
observations that initially inspired it. An investigator who wishes not to be misled must make himself aware of the metaphors he uses and remain alert to both their limitations and the
continuous pressure they subtly exert.
Langacker 1991 :507
2.3. Approaching metatheory via metaphor
As cited in chapter 1
, Figueroa defines metatheory as “the underlying beliefs which generate a particular approach” and as “ideology or theoretical presupposition”
Figueroa 1994
:4. While her definition is useful, the “underlying beliefs,” “ideology,” and “theoretical presuppositions” which she suggests one might study do not readily present
themselves for examination. How then might one approach the study of metatheory? Most linguists conduct their science without explicitly discussing presuppositions.
Nevertheless, the manner in which they speak and write does reflect those presup- positions. Foremost in that reflection are their choices and uses of metaphors. As has
been mentioned, Burke 1954
, Lakoff 1987
, and Lakoff and Johnson 1980
, 1999
have argued that metaphors are much more than just a convenient or poetic means of expression.
In developing their theory of language, Lakoff and Johnson discovered that a study of metaphorical expressions in language reveals the more abstract conceptual metaphors
that shape behavior and experience. They write:
Our conceptual system is not something we are normally aware of. In most of the little things we do every day, we simply think and act more or less automatically along certain lines.
Just what these lines are is by no means obvious. One way to find out is by looking at language. Since communication is based on the same conceptual system that we use in
thinking and acting, language is an important source of evidence for what that system is like.
Lakoff and Johnson 1980 :3
Just as a study of metaphorical expressions provides Lakoff and Johnson a means of recognizing underlying conceptual metaphors in language, a study of metaphorical
expressions employed by the linguistic community provides a porthole for viewing the more abstract conceptual system to which those metaphors are linked. The metaphorisms
which elaborate the code model of communication provide such a porthole into linguistic metatheory.
2.4. The patient repetition of a fertile metaphor?
