Paul Ricoeur's theory of metaphor in context

Abstract

This article aims to address an essential theme for the theory of literature and for the philosophy of language. Halfway between the two, there is a current of thought that considers that language is essentially a metaphor and that, with the passage of time, it has lost its ability to metaphorize and has become expressively stagnant. In this line, we can see the most diverse authors who have tried to approach the subject in different ways. Gary Lachman, relying on Owen Barfield, offers a current presentation of the problem from a literary point of view and, as it could also be described, intuitive one; Nietzsche managed to conceptualize it in an exemplary way, and Ricoeur manages to technically explain why the phenomenon occurs, how it could be reversed and how to recover, therefore, from the language itself its metaphorizing power and its possibility of redescribing the world.

Keywords

• metaphor
• poetry
• language
• redescription of the world
• metaphorical truth
• ricoeur