서강대학교

초록/요약

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interpretations of metaphor in advertisements. In particular, Sperber and Wilson’s relevance theory (1986/1995) demonstrates how metaphorical utterances are interpreted. Even though there are several studies related to metaphors, they do not give sufficient account of the interpretations of metaphors and tend to treat metaphors as an exceptional or supplementary use of a language. For example, Aristotle’s comparison theory (1932) does not cover all types of metaphor. Grice (1975) has the limitation in interpreting metaphors from the point of a metaphorical utterance is a violation of the quality maxim. Sperber and Wilson (1986/1995) consider a metaphor as a normal language and try to interpret metaphorical utterances by the notion of loose talk. The relevance theory provides a general account of the interpretation of metaphor as well as general dimensions of language use. This theory states that humans tend to pay attention to the most relevant phenomena which is valid for any type of ostensive communication. In the process of interpretation in metaphors, hearers try to achieve the optimal relevance: the most effect for the least cost. Hearers would not go beyond the point where the processing effort outweighs the contextual effects and they make conclusions at that point. The steps involved in this interpretive process are hearer’s responsibility and make hearers retain attention of the advertising for longer. The relevance theory is a useful key for the communicators to recover the most available interpretation with the least effort.