On analogical knowledge: Metaphors in biotechnology discourse

Authors

  • Vicent Salvador Department of Philology and European Cultures of the Jaume I University (Castelló, Spain).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.9.10940

Keywords:

metaphor, terminology, biotechnology, scientific discourse, knowledge dissemination

Abstract

During a period dominated by positivist thinking, metaphors seemed incompatible with science, at least for the most common manifestations of scientific discourse. However, this apparent transgression is now considered essential and even advantageous for the construction of knowledge. The terminology of specialised knowledge, like that from the field of biotechnology, undoubtedly contains metaphors. In the discourse related to scientific dissemination and the mass media, the use of metaphors is more original which makes them more attractive as strategies to increase the intelligibility of concepts and to stimulate layperson audiences. Thus, anthropomorphic projections are one of the types of metaphor which performs the best in the context of this type of discourse. 

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Vicent Salvador, Department of Philology and European Cultures of the Jaume I University (Castelló, Spain).

Full Professor at the Department of Philology and European Cultures of the Jaume I University (Castelló, Spain). He is an expert on discourse analysis and his most recent research focuses on the field of communication, language, and the representation of health. He is the principal investigator at the EXPLORA language and health-culture project (CSO2014-61928-EXP) and the RETOS project «Discursive construction of conflict» (FFI2017-85227-R).

References

Borja, J. (2016). Sobre l’alquímia de la vida. Conversa amb Xavier Vendrell. Benicarló: Onada.

Brown, T. L. (2003). Making truth. Metaphor in science. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

De Bustos, E. (2014). Metáfora y argumentación: Teoría y práctica. Madrid: Cátedra.

Domínguez, M., & Sapiña, L. (2016). Cancer metaphors in sport news: The match that must be won. In P. Ordóñez-López, & N. Edo-Marzá (Eds.), Medical discourse in professional, academic and popular settings(pp. 149–175). Bristol, New York, and Ontario: Multilingual Matters.

García Lorca, F. (1966). La imagen poética de don Luís de Góngora. In F. García Lorca, Obras completas (pp. 62–85). Madrid: Aguilar.

Lakoff, G. (1991). Metaphor and war: The metaphor system used to justify war in the Gulf. Peace Research, 23(2/3), 25–32.

Mukherjee, S. (2014). El emperador de todos los males: Una biografía del cáncer.Barcelona: Debate.

Pujante, D. (2003). Manual de retórica. Madrid: Castalia.

Samper, E. (2010, 19 July). Apoptosis: El suicidio celular que nos mantiene con vida (I) [blog entry]. Retrieved from http://medtempus.com/archives/apoptosis-el-suicidio-celular-que-nos-mantiene-con-vida-i/

Downloads

Published

2019-03-06

How to Cite

Salvador, V. (2019). On analogical knowledge: Metaphors in biotechnology discourse. Metode Science Studies Journal, (9), 47–51. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.9.10940
Metrics
Views/Downloads
  • Abstract
    1769
  • PDF
    807

Issue

The grounds of science (2019)

Section

#Biotech. The need for biotechnology communication

License

All the documents in the OJS platform are open access and property of their respective authors.

Authors publishing in the journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors keep the rights and guarantee Metode Science Studies Journal the right to be the first publication of the document, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of authorship and publication in the journal.
  2. Authors are allowed and encouraged to spread their work through electronic means using personal or institutional websites (institutional open archives, personal websites or professional and academic networks profiles) once the text has been published.

Metrics

Similar Articles

> >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.