Poetic Metaphors: Creativity and Interpretation

✍ Scribed by Carina Rasse

• Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 210
• Series: (Figurative Thought and Language)
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Poetry pushes metaphor to the limit. Consider how many different, dynamic, and interconnected dimensions (e.g., text, rhyme, rhythm, sound, and many more) a poem has, and how they all play a role in the ways (metaphorical) meaning is constructed. There is probably no other genre that relies so much on the creator’s ability to get his or her message across while, at the same time, leaving enough room for the interpreters to find out for themselves what a poem means to them, what emotions and feelings it evokes, and which experiences it conveys. This book uses interviews, questionnaires and think-aloud protocols to investigate the meanings and functions of metaphors from a poet’s perspective and to explore how readers interpret and engage with this poetry. Besides the theoretical contribution to the field of metaphor studies, this monograph presents numerous practical implications for a systematic exploration of metaphors in contemporary poetry and beyond.

✦ Table of Contents

Poetic Metaphors
Editorial page
Title page
Copyright page
Dedication page
Epigraph
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter 1. The scope of this book
1.1 About the book
1.2 Goals and potential impact of this book
1.3 Structure of the book
Chapter 2. Conceptual metaphor theory and the study of metaphors in poetry
2.1 Metaphor: Then and now
2.1.1 Literal vs. metaphorical language
2.1.2 Metaphor – A matter of language, thought, and action
2.2 Embodiment in verbal and non-verbal metaphor understanding
2.2.1 Lexical priming
2.2.2 Behavioral studies
2.3 Criticism of CMT
2.3.1 Unreliable method
2.3.2 What counts as metaphor and do people always access conceptual metaphor when producing or understanding metaphorical language?
2.3.3 Do people always use conceptual metaphors when producing or understanding metaphorical language?
2.4 Metaphors in poetry
2.4.1 The meanings and functions of poetic metaphors
2.4.2 Cognitive poetics
2.4.3 Difficulties in applying MIP to poetry
2.4.4 Are poetic metaphors always deliberate?
2.5 How are poetic metaphors studied in this book?
Chapter 3. Poetic metaphors: Empirical investigations
3.1 Qualitative investigations into the study of metaphors in poetry
3.2 Poems used in the studies
3.3 Identification of conceptual metaphors in the selected poems
3.4 Questionnaires sent to poets (study 1)
3.5 Interviews with poets (study 2)
3.6 Written think aloud protocols (study 3)
Chapter 4. Poets’ perspectives on the meanings and functions of metaphors in poetry
4.1 What do metaphors mean to you?
4.2 What is the function of metaphors? Why do you use them?
4.3 What would you call the origins or sources of your metaphors?
4.4 Do you think that constructing metaphorical expressions is a very conscious, intentional process, or do you rather subconsciously place metaphors in your writing?
4.5 To what extent do you think you can foresee, or even control, readers’ reactions to the metaphors you use?
4.6 Please feel free to make any further remarks on the topic of metaphors in your poetry here
Chapter 5. An in-depth analysis of metaphors in six contemporary poems
5.1 Jason D. Peterson’s “How we got here”
5.2 Rae Armantrout’s “The Difficulty”
5.3 Frank Beck’s “The Copper Husk Allegory”
5.4 Shirley Geok-Lin Lim’s “Night Vision”
5.5 Robert Pinsky’s “The Hearts“
5.6 James Arthur’s “Wind”
5.7 Chapter summary
Chapter 6. On readers’ engagements with poetry
6.1 Data analysis and coding
6.2 Overall results
6.3 Individual poems and interpretation patterns
6.3.1 Analyses of participants’ responses to Frank Beck’s “The Copper Husk Allegory”
6.3.2 Analyses of participants’ responses to Jason David Peterson’s “How we got here”
6.3.3 Analyses of participants’ responses to Rae Armantrout’s “Difficulty”
6.3.4 Analyses of participants’ responses to Robert Pinsky’s “Hearts”
6.3.5 Analyses of participants’ responses to Shirley Lim’s “Night Vision”
6.3.6 Analyses of participants’ responses to James Arthur’s “Wind”
6.4 Focus on conceptual metaphors
6.4.1 Conceptual metaphors in meaning interpretations of poems
6.4.2 How participants talk about their emotional engagements with the poems
6.4.3 How participants talk about authorial intention
6.5 Allegorical readings as examples of the complexities involved in poetry interpretation
Chapter 7. Comparing poets’ and readers’ responses to poetry
7.1 Comparisons in “How we got here”
7.2 Comparisons in “The Difficulty”
7.3 Comparisons in “The Copper Husk Allegory”
7.4 Comparisons in “Night Vision”
7.5 Comparisons in “Wind”
7.6 Comparisons in “The Hearts”
7.7 Summary of main findings
7.8 What a systematic application of CMT to readers’ and poets’ responses, and a comparison between these, tells us about poetry interpretation
Chapter 8. Conclusion and future outlook
References
Index