Chasing complexity in metaphor research: A response to Thibodeau (2022)

Abstract

Thibodeau (2022) offers a thoughtful critique of my article (Keefer, 2022), attempting to bridge literatures on conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) and Lacan’s theory of metaphor. In this response, I specifically address issues about the extent to which cognitivist alternatives are able to effectively address concerns about the reductiveness of metaphors in CMT. My view is that these approaches either make untenable assumptions about semantic value or are better articulated in a Lacanian structuralism about language. Contra Thibodeau, I believe that a psychoanalytic approach to studying metaphor can be scientific, but that its methods must better capture the complexity of metaphoric thought. I close by addressing the Lacanian unconscious and pose the need for cognitive models of metaphor to better grapple with the intersubjective transmission of metaphor and motive.