Abstract
Aristotle himself must be held partially responsible for fueling criticism from those interested in rhetorical theory; he places his discussion of metaphor in Book III of the Rhetoric, subordinating it to discussions of types of proof, the topoi, and the example and the enthymeme. Thus metaphor is treated under the head of style and becomes an ornament of language. This placement conceals the inherently rhetorical character of metaphor. The purpose of this essay is to argue that rather than serving merely an ornamental function, the use of metaphor constitutes an inventional process, and more specifically, that the formal operation of metaphor is fundamentally enthymematic.
To provide a nomenclature for this discussion, the essay first summariz.es the structuralist and interaction perspectives on metaphor. Within this framework, the essay then explores two aspects of metaphor's relationship with the enthymeme: the conscription of the audience in creation of meaning, and the pleasure that participating in metaphorical meaning affords the audience.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Speech Communication
Volume
21
Issue
2
First Page
49
Last Page
54
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Sommerville, Joseph A.
(1989)
"The Enthymematic Structure of Metaphor,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 21:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol21/iss2/4
Copyright
©1989 Iowa Communication Association
