ABSTRACT
The theory of metaphor upon which I will ground my account of pictorial metaphor is Max Black’s (1962, 1979a) interaction theory. Despite minor shortcomings this theory can be regarded as the most satisfactory theory of metaphor hitherto developed. Many writers on metaphor are explicitly or implicity committed to it: they accept its central tenets wholly or with small variations, or at least take its premises as a foundation on which to expand or vary (see for instance Ricoeur 1977, Verbrugge 1980, MacCormac 1985, Kjärgaard 1986, Kittay 1987, Hausman 1989, Indurkhya 1991, 1992). Apart from its widespread acceptance, Black’s theory has another great merit: it has been formulated in such a manner that theoretical explicitness goes hand in hand with transparent principles of operation-that is, Black gives a very lucid account of how metaphor works. In this latter respect it is superior to the account of Richards (1965/1936), the other theorist commonly associated with the interaction theory.1 As Ricoeur points out, ‘Richards made the breakthrough; after him, Max Black and others occupy and organize the terrain’ (1977:84). Thirdly, Black shows an awareness of the importance of metaphor’s pragmatics that is still insufficiently shared by many contemporary commentators: metaphorical meaning cannot be adequately discussed without resorting to metaphorical use.
