Proposition Theory or Image Theory? Towards a unified account of metaphor

Abstract

In this paper I will discuss two main theories of metaphor in pragmatics: Proposition Theory and Image Theory. I will notice how each theory focuses on different kinds of metaphor and I will provide a model able to put the two theories in dialogue and give account of a wider array of metaphors, to which correspond different interpretative processes. In particular, in the first paragraph I will analyse Proposition Theories and Image Theories of metaphor. In the second paragraph I will show that the two kinds of theories are not only opposites and complementary but describe different kinds of metaphor. I will argue that each theory is not able to give full account of metaphors because of its alleged universality and because the classifications of metaphors it offers are monodimensional, being linked to a single parameter. Finally, in the third paragraph I will try to put Proposition Theories and Image Theories of metaphor in dialogue to offer a bidimensional model of metaphor able to give full account of different kinds of metaphor.