How Can We Talk to Each Other? Metaphor as a Solution

• In Event: 038 - Theory Section Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Perception, Language, and Rationality

Abstract

Sociology is an extremely diverse discipline, but this diversity brings problems as well as advantages. In particular, a variety of scholars have recently highlighted the difficulties this diversity can create for our ability to communicate effectively with one another. I begin by generalizing this problem by turning to Hayden White’s Metahistory. The solutions offered by previous scholars are insufficient, either because they are political nature (and thus miss the communicative nature of the problem), or because they lack a strong theoretical understanding of communication and thus can only provide a superficial solution. I avoid this issue by turning to the study of metaphor. I begin by detailing the modern understanding of metaphor and differentiating it from what might be called the everyday understanding. I then elaborate the theoretical consequences of the modern theory of metaphor for communication before using metaphor to construct a practical communicative solution: metaphorical reading. I demonstrate this solution on a variety of examples before closing by discussing the limits of my solution, as well as further implications of bringing an understanding of metaphor to sociology.

Author

• Steven Lauterwasser, University of California, Berkeley