Zufall oder System?: Ein spekulativer Beitrag zur Metapherndiskussion

In this contribution an explanation is offered of the ways in which radical socio-cultural changes in the world around us and the increased re-emergence of figurative expressions and metaphors in particular interact. Starting from the assumption (and based on a sound philosophical background) that language (and discourse in particular) as a reflection of aspects of our life is not merely a self-contained system of symbols, but a mode of doing, being and becoming, the paper focuses on aspects of metaphorical language in academic discourse. Contemporary metaphorical discourse will be viewed as socially constituted and conditioned by an increasing recognition of the complexities of everyday life with the proviso that complex and confused pictures of reality can only be reconstructed on the basis of figurative language.