The use of metaphors in academic communication: Traps or treasures

Abstract

The rationalists and the empiricists in the 17th century once argued that metaphor is an inferior device to convey objective truth and should be replaced by literal statements. On the one hand, this article shares Lakoff and Johnson's (1980 & 1999) view that metaphor is useful to pursue experiential truth and explains why "metaphors are necessary and not just nice" (Ortony, 1975:45). On the other hand, it reports a cognitive psychological experiment, which shows that metaphor comprehension can be greatly influenced by people's pre-existing conceptual knowledge and the context, in which the metaphor appears. The authors advocate a conscious use of metaphors in academic communication with full awareness of the factors that may influence metaphor comprehension.