ENGL 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Literal And Figurative Language
Document Summary
At the opposite extreme form the fortune cookie school lies the completely relativist anything goes school. The problem with the anything goes approach is that it tend to assume that all interpretations are equally viable, and that meanings are simply a matter of individual choice, regardless of evidence or plausibility. While some [people search for a single right answer and dismiss her est, others dismiss the interpretive project altogether. Those who adopt this latter stance are excessively literal minded; they see any venture into interpretation as a benighted quest to impose hidden meanings on the reader. It suggests that meanings exist in places other than the literal words on the page. Reading between the lines suggests that we have to look for meanings elsewhere than in the lines of text themselves. Metaphor is one of the few uses of language in which it is okay to say one thing and mean another. Metaphor is a way of thinking by analogy.
