Routledge Studies in Rhetoric and Stylistics

When Rhetoric Runs Amok

By: Peter J. Adams

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Hardcover | 11 May 2023 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
260 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.4

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This book explores ways in which common metaphors can play a detrimental role in everyday life; how they can grow in outsized importance to dominate their respective terrains and push out alternative perspectives; and how forms of resistance might act to contain their dominance.

The volume begins by unpacking the dynamics of metaphors, their power and influence and the ways in which they are bolstered by other rhetorical devices. Adams draws on four case studies to illustrate their destructive impact when they eclipse other points of view—the metaphor of mental illness; the metaphor of free-flowing markets; the metaphor of the mind as a mirror and the metaphor of men as naturally superior. Taken together, these examples prompt further reflection on the beneficiaries of these "monster metaphors" and how they promote such metaphors to serve their own interests but also on ways forward for challenging their dominance, strategies for preventing their rise and ways of creating space for alternatives.

This book will be of interest to scholars interested in the study of metaphor, across such fields as linguistics, rhetoric and media studies.

Industry Reviews

"Among the many strengths of the book are: the major social implications of the case studies; the breadth of the author's knowledge of the fields he explores; the vivid stories he tells about the origins of each monster metaphor; the references to his personal experience...the occasional humour; and the vividly engaging style with which it is written." - Michael Hanne, Language in Society

"Overall, the book is a knowledgeable, exciting, irritating, and also a political book. It is definitely worth reading." - Jo Reichertz, Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) Essen, Forum: Qualitative Social Research

"[This book] is a compelling examination of the formidable power of metaphors in our lives. It is an urgent call for vigilance, reflection, and active resistance against the behemoth metaphors that threaten to overshadow alternative, often more nuanced, perspectives." - Zilong Zhong, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Rhetoric Review

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