Similarity, Metaphor and Creativity

In the traditional study of metaphor, conventional or creative, everyday or literary, scholars are simply interested in the existent metaphorical expressions, those they can directly find in oral or written texts.Even when they are talking about creative metaphors or creativity in metaphorical thinking, they usually base their discussion on instances they collected from various sources.In our study, we are more concerned with the potential similarity-based relations which, when combined with proper conditions, are likely to become real metaphorical expressions.As the core of metaphor and also our discussion, similarity plays a leading role.Nobody can deny the existence of similarity in metaphor, though there are disputes that arise from the different properties of similarity, i.e., piecemeal similarity or structural similarity.Similarity does not simply exist in metaphor, it is pervasive in our perception of the world.Any two things, as long as they are perceived to be related to each other, must be based on certain kind of similarity.Explicit or easily detected similarities are easier to be turned into metaphors and be widely accepted as conventional ones, while implicit or vaguely represented similarities are usually beyond the reach of the mental faculties of most people, so more difficult to become metaphors.Similarities which are in line with conventional cognitive structures are more advantageous than those that go against these conventions.But it is those similarities that are implicit, vaguely perceived, context-specific, opposite to conventional cognition, that demonstrate the true value of creativity and novelty.