The Poetics of Mind Figurative Thought, Language, and Understanding [Hardcover]

In this bold new work, Ray Gibbs demonstrates that human cognition is deeply poetic and that figurative imagination constitutes the way we understand ourselves and the world in which we live.Ideas and research from psychology, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and literary theory establish important links between the poetic structure of thought and everyday language usage in this attempt to overturn the traditional view that poetic language requires unique linguistic skills.Ideas and research from psychology, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and literary theory establish important links between the poetic structure of thought and everyday language usage in this attempt to overturn the traditional view that poetic language requires unique linguistic skills.The traditional view of the mind holds that poetic language is a special human ability requiring different cognitive and linguistic skills than employed in ordinary language. The author overturns the traditional perspective by showing how figurative aspects of language reveal the poetic structure of mind. Ideas and research from psychology, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology, and literary theory are used to establish important links between the poetic structure of thought and everyday use of language. The Poetics of Mind evaluates current philosophical, linguistic, and literary theories of figurative language and relates the empirical work on figurative language understanding to the broader issues concerning the nature of everyday thought and reasoning.1. Introduction and Overview; 2. Thinking and Speaking Literally; 3. Figurative Language Understanding: A Special Process?; 4. Metaphor in Language and Thought; 5. Understanding Metaphorical Expressions; 6. Idiomaticity; 7. Metonymy; 8. Irony; 9. The Poetic Minds of Children; 10. Implications and Future Directions. ...accessible to the uninitiated reader and still maintains the highest scholarly standards...Anyone who is interested in the relationship lÓ%