ABSTRACT
In privileging the substitution of names as self-identical identities, Roy Wagner’s theory of metaphor depends on the distinction between the literal and the metaphorical. The closure of the emic gesture and that of metaphor at a cosmic level depend on the affirmation of a metaphysical foundation for oppositions such as ‘Western’ versus ‘Melanesian,’ ‘literal’ versus ‘metaphorical,’ ‘microcosm’ versus ‘macrocosm.’ The difference resides in Wagner’s presentist concern and emphasis on closure and recursiveness at the expense of the potential of dissemination that is contained in his earlier theory of metaphor proposed in Habu. The conceptualization of metaphor, as a metaphor of metaphor, remains “quasi-metaphorical”. A metaphor or trope is said to operate through analogy in that it equates and replaces points of reference at the conventional level. Wagner’s theorization of metaphor as image attempts to escape the arbitrary character of symbolization.
