Meaning holism and metaphors: structure, context, and interpretive flexibility

Abstract

This article combines Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphor theory with Henry Jackman’s moderate semantic holism to offer a more precise understanding of figurative language as a situated semantic phenomenon. It argues that, while conceptual metaphor theory provides a coherent framework for explaining systematicity, it tends to underestimate interpretive variability and the role of discursive context. In contrast, moderate holism conceives metaphorical meaning as a many-to-one function, locally stabilized within partially shared belief networks. Through a theoretical review and the analysis of three metaphors drawn from contemporary Spanish—related to running, teaching, and emotional life—the article shows that figurative interpretation does not follow fixed rules or literal substitutions, but rather emerges from situated communicative practices. This approach broadens the scope of figurative meaning studies from an interdisciplinary perspective, combining philosophical and linguistic tools with special attention to context.