ABSTRACT
One might ask why transubstantiation has become such an important metaphor, even for writers and artists who are not particularly interested in religion or spirituality. One answer, certainly, is the obvious historical one: transubstantiation, as a key and highly visible element both of Catholic doctrine and liturgy, and thus one of the principal battle-grounds of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, is a concept that had an unparalleled role to play in the formation of modern Europe. For it not to have cultural resonance would be strange indeed. But there may be another, supporting, reason. Transubstantiation, taken out of its theological context, and also with at least some of the metaphysical minutiae removed, is a metaphor of the power and even the danger of metaphorical language itself. In what way does transubstantiation describe something fundamental about metaphor? In order best to introduce the work that follows, this introduction will explore this question.
