Book Review: Metaphor by David Punter, 2007. London and New York: Routledge

Abstract

The underlying thesis of Punter’s Metaphor is that metaphor (derived from the Greek metaphora, ‘transference’) is integral to language – be it literary or non-literary – because the transfer of sense between two things is everywhere at work in language. The main body of Punter’s book consists of nine chapters, each of which deals with an issue meant to shed light on this thesis. The nine chapters can be roughly divided into two categories, according to Punter’s view of metaphor as a ‘dialectic of similarity and difference’ (p. 88): the first three chapters focus on situations wherein similarity is foregrounded, and the rest on situations wherein difference gains prominence