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Poetic Metaphors
Creativity and interpretation
Poetry pushes metaphor to the limit. Consider how many different, dynamic, and interconnected dimensions (e.g., text, rhyme, rhythm, sound, and many more) a poem has, and how they all play a role in the ways (metaphorical) meaning is constructed. There is probably no other genre that relies so much on the creator’s ability to get his or her message across while, at the same time, leaving enough room for the interpreters to find out for themselves what a poem means to them, what emotions and feelings it evokes, and which experiences it conveys. This book uses interviews, questionnaires and think-aloud protocols to investigate the meanings and functions of metaphors from a poet’s perspective and to explore how readers interpret and engage with this poetry. Besides the theoretical contribution to the field of metaphor studies, this monograph presents numerous practical implications for a systematic exploration of metaphors in contemporary poetry and beyond.
[Figurative Thought and Language, 15] 2022. xvii, 190 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 3 June 2022
Published online on 3 June 2022
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements | pp. xiii–xiv
- Preface | pp. xv–xviii
- Chapter 1. The scope of this book | pp. 1–10
- Chapter 2. Conceptual metaphor theory and the study of metaphors in poetry | pp. 11–52
- Chapter 3. Poetic metaphors: Empirical investigations | pp. 53–60
- Chapter 4. Poets’ perspectives on the meanings and functions of metaphors in poetry | pp. 61–76
- Chapter 5. An in-depth analysis of metaphors in six contemporary poems | pp. 77–100
- Chapter 6. On readers’ engagements with poetry | pp. 101–150
- Chapter 7. Comparing poets’ and readers’ responses to poetry | pp. 151–172
- Chapter 8. Conclusion and future outlook | pp. 173–180
- References | pp. 180–188
- Index | pp. 189–190
“Carina Rasse’s inaugural book, Poetic Metaphors: Creativity and Interpretation, explores the dynamic Venn-diagrammatic shared-ness between poetic thoughts/writings of contemporary poets, and the metaphorical interpretations from readers of that poetry. As a unique and precise empirical analysis, and an extremely well-written monograph—packed with compelling insights, the book will intrigue and enthuse anyone caring about metaphor and/or poetry.”
Herbert L. Colston, University of Alberta
“Rasse’s marvelous book reports an empirical study on poets’ reflections and students’ understandings of metaphors in these writers’ poems. She addresses critical links between poets’ creative thinking and readers’ typical inferences from poetic language. Metaphor researchers and literary scholars will appreciate its emphasis on real poets and real readers in their joint pursuit of poetic meaning.”
Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., Independent Cognitive Scientist
“Carina Rasse for the first time, offers empirical studies on poets' thoughts about poetic metaphor and presents these alongside analyses of what readers interpreted when reading their poem. This work covers significant ground towards studying how poets themselves craft extraordinary metaphor and what happens when those metaphors are let out into the wild.”
Lacey Okonski, Umea University, in Journal of Pragmatics 211 (2023).
“A remarkable study and compelling read, Poetic Metaphors: Creativity and interpretation goes beyond just showing that conceptual metaphor is as fundamental to poetry understanding as to poetic creativity. The monograph's undoubted merit is the analytical connection between readers' perception and emotion that brings convincing evidence of empathy in reading experiences.”
Alena Revutskaya, Minsk State Linguistic University, in Metaphor and the Social World 13:2 (2023).
Cited by (8)
Cited by eight other publications
Mitić, Aleksandra Janić, Ivana Mitić & Dušan Stamenković
Mitić, Ivana, Aleksandra Janić Mitić & Dušan Stamenković
Rasse, Carina, Sandra Diehl & Ralf Terlutter
Ichien, Nicholas, Dušan Stamenković & Keith J. Holyoak
Colston, Herbert L.
Katz, Albert N., Carina Rasse & Herbert L. Colston
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.