O wierności i uciążliwości, a o metaforze całkiem przy okazji (odpowiedź na krytykę Pani Profesor Elżbiety Muskat-Tabakowskiej)

Abstrakt

On faithfulness and nuisance, and just by the way, on metaphor (A reply to prof. Elżbieta Muskat-Tabakowska’s criticism)

The present paper is a reply to a polemic published by prof. Elżbieta Muskat-Tabakowska under the title Pies wierny, ale uciążliwy, czyli o metaforze (Leśmiana i nie tylko) (‘A dog loyal but tiresome: on metaphor in Leśmian’s poetry and beyond’), in which she critically reviews this authors book Metaforyka Leśmiana. Analiza lingwistyczna (‘Metaphors in Leśmian’s poetry (A linguistic analysis)’). Most importantly, this paper rejects the principal accusation that the book is but a manifestation of its author’s dislike of the cognitive theory of metaphor. It also rebuts a series of minor complaints by showing that they are based on subjective interpretations and arbitrary assessments which are inconsistent with the letter of the text, and not supported by any proof. The author explains why he believes that the cognitive theory of metaphor is unhelpful in the empirical analysis of data.