The Structure and Religious Significance of Verbal, Conceptual, and Visual Metaphors
CERES-Palais, Raum "Ruhrpott" (4.13)
Metaphor Talk by Dr. Jacob Hesse, RUB
Metaphor research has grown increasingly complex and diverse. To bring clarity and structure to this field, I propose a distinction between verbal, conceptual, and visual metaphors. Verbal metaphors, the traditional focus of theories of metaphor, are instances of figurative language in which words are interpreted in ways that significantly diverge from their standard interpretations. Conceptual metaphors, by contrast, are not primarily understood as forms of figurative use of language but as mappings of different conceptual domains. Finally, visual metaphors, distinct from both verbal and conceptual metaphors, manifest as specific types of visual objects or particular ways of interpreting them. My central argument is that none of these types of metaphors can be reduced to another, as each resists full explanation in terms of the others. Furthermore, I will explore the epistemic and religious significance that each of these types of metaphor exhibits.
