EXTENDING THE SCOPE OF METAPHOR - AN EXAMINATION OF DEFINITIONS OLD AND NEW AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR EDUCATION

This article provides an analysis of theories of metaphor, tracing how far those which have dominated Western thought until the past few dec ades are reflective of the definitions within which writers from Class ical Greece were working. It is shown how, during the Middle Ages and beyond, in particular since the seventeenth century, definitions of me taphor which emphasised 'literal' and 'figurative' levels of meaning h ave led to serious misconceptions concerning its nature and function i n the attempts of human beings to conceptualise and make sense of thei r experiences. A discussion of these misconceptions is provided in som e detail and traditional definitions are shown to have distorted the d eeper insights held by classical writers, such as Aristotle, Demetrius and Longinus. The article continues with descriptive analyses of the mistaken nature of definitions of metaphor which confine it to creativ e, poetic forms of discussion. It is shown that conventional speech ut terances comprise simple metaphors to a large extent and how these pro vide an immensely important base from which education could help pupil s extend and enrich both their thought and language. This could be don e by teaching them ways of interpreting the novel, poetic metaphors of others and how to create their own.