What Blending Theory adds to Conceptual Metaphor Theory
There are two important contributions that Blending Theory makes to our understanding of conceptual metaphor. The first contribution is its account of emergent structure. As we saw earlier, one of the original motivations for Blending Theory was the failure of Metaphor Theory to account for emergent structure. In our discussion of the example That surgeon is a butcher, we saw that there were emergent inferences that could not be accounted for by a two-domain model. The second contribution that Blending Theory makes to our understanding of conceptual metaphor is its account of the derivation of compound metaphors. We saw in Chapter 9 that compound metaphors result from the integration or unification of more primitive primary metaphors. What Blending Theory provides is a means of understanding how this process of unification occurs, and how it results in a compound metaphorical blend.
In order to illustrate this process, we discuss the ship of state metaphorical blend.
Ship of state
Our discussion of this blend is based on proposals by Grady, Oakley and Coulson (1999). Consider the following attested examples provided by Grady et al. (1999: 108–9):
The mappings for the NATION IS A SHIP metaphor are summarised in Table 12.7.
As we saw in Chapter 9, compound metaphors like THEORIES ARE BUILDINGS are derived from two more primitive primary metaphors. This also applies to the NATION IS A SHIP metaphor, which is derived from at least those indicated in Table 12.8. What the blending perspective offers is a way of seeing how the NATION IS A SHIP metaphor is derived. Each of the primary metaphors listed in Table 12.8 represents an input to the metaphoric blend. In addition, there is a SHIP input containing a SHIP, a CREW, a COURSE, SAILING MISHAPS and so on. In the blend, the SHIP input provides a single frame that structures the blend. Hence, in the metaphor ACTION IS SELF-PROPELLED MOTION, the nature of the self-propelled motion relates not just to any kind of entity that can undergo self-propelled motion but is restricted to the kind of motion that characterises ships. The paths in the blend deriving from COURSES OF ACTION ARE PATHS are also restricted to the kind of path that characterises ships (a path across the sea rather than the land). In addition, the kind of physical proximity that is possible in the blend, due to the metaphor A SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP IS PHYSICAL PROXIMITY, is understood in terms of the possible configurations of physical proximity resulting from location on a ship, and so on.
A further important consequence of treating compound metaphors as blends is that we arrive at a means of understanding metaphor mapping gaps, first discussed in Chapter 9. Projection to the blended space is selective: while ships are steered and we also conventionally conceptualise nations as being steered, there are many aspects of a ship that are not projected to the highly conventional blend. For example, ships can have a mast or a crow’s nest, yet we do not conventionally speak of a nation’s mast or crow’s nest. As we saw in section 12.7, selective projection arises from interaction between the optimality principles of Blending Theory.
