The dynamic complexities of metaphor interpretation

Abstract

Metaphor interpretation takes cognitive effort and produces some complex set of cognitive effects. Although most metaphor scholars assume that there are definitive ways for studying metaphor effort and effects, there are various methodological problems associated with specifying metaphorical meanings and the ways that people generally come to understand these meanings. My claim is that both metaphoric meaning and metaphor interpretation is fundamentally indeterminate. Nonetheless, there are a wide range of factors that shape the effort put into understanding a metaphor and the particular reffects that arise from this experience. These personal, linguistic, and socio-cultural factors are sometimes acknowledged by metaphor scholars, but we need to examine the complex ways these factors interact to systematically characterize people’s metaphorical experiences.