ABSTRACT

This book is based on rigorous analysis of the detail of a process, combined with holistic understanding of that process which has come from seeing the participants in action in a range of different situations, meeting and talking with them. Writing it has not been straightforward. The linear nature of text argues with multi-dimensional and holistic understandings. The topic is so compelling that I had wanted something other than an academic text, that would be accessible to a wider audience. But I also wanted students of metaphor and other researchers to be able to follow my method and replicate the rich experience I have had with other data relevant to our human condition. There have been more versions of chapters written, and destroyed than was the case for any of my other books. Eventually, the content settled itself into chapters and sequence. The style became academic regardless of my wishes.