The conceptual metaphor theory and the development of alternative theories within the cognitive approach to metaphor (a review of European and American metaphor studies)

Abstract

The article presents results of an analytical review of European and American publications devoted to the theoretical concepts currently united under the term "theory of metaphor" as well as to the development of its key notions within the framework of cognitive metaphor studies. The purpose of the analysis is to present the essence of a number of theories of metaphor from a comparative perspective in order to reflect a gradual and consistent course of development in the field of cognitive metaphor studies. The significant number of hypotheses and theories proposed to the scientific community confirms the fact that there is researchers' stable interest in this phenomenon and a desire to give a comprehensive and convincing explanation of its essence, patterns of use in various texts and discourses, interpretation mechanisms, etc. This comparison of theoretical concepts allowed to establish the fact that the theory of conceptual metaphor focuses on an analysis of decontextualized metaphorical units verbalized in some language, which in its turn, enabled researchers to identify a range of underlying metaphorical formations at the conceptual level. Alternative theoretical concepts (the theory of conceptual integration, the career theory of metaphor, the theory of attributive categorization, the theory of relevance, the graded salience hypothesis) are aimed at explaining the process of how people manage to understand and interpret the content of verbal metaphorical expressions, i.e. they focus on various stages of a broader and phased process of their cognitive processing. Over the past decades, these theories have undergone repeated "testing" in the works written by supporters and opponents, which allowed them to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and where necessary, to supplement or clarify the notions and conclusions. Although the accumulated research results contributed to a "breakthrough" in understanding and evaluating such a phenomenon as the metaphor, it is still premature to consider them final. The article shows that the theory of conceptual integration and the theory of relevance are in demand in modern metaphor studies, since they focus on explaining the processes of information integration in the construction of metaphorical meanings based on the selection of significant features in various discursive practices. The existence of a number of theories of metaphor confirms the opinion of researchers that in their present state none of these well-known theories can be considered the only one capable of describing and explaining the phenomenon of metaphor in a consistent and comprehensive manner.