The Similarities And Differences Between "Metaphor" And "Analogy"

Metaphor and analogy are common thinking forms. On the surface they can be separated by different words, but wherever in theory or in practice, metaphor and analogy are always confused with each other. A dozens of researchers have tried to work out the difference between metaphor and analogy. This paper is trying to develop the study in three aspects:Firstly in the aspect of inscape, which refers to the categorical relation of the correlative points between the targets; secondly in the aspect of structure and framework, which refers to logic relation of correlative point; thirdly in the aspect of thinking modes, which refers to the essential measure supporting metaphor and analogy.The main opinion of the paper is:Metaphor and analogy are not two thinking forms which are absolutely distinguished, and also are not completely equal.Only in the very typical cases they can be distinguished comparatively: the typical metaphor involves different categorical correlative points, and the subjects of the metaphor are apparently different in classifying. And when creating or understanding a metaphor, what people need to do is to experience only by instinct. Whereas analogy involves identical categorical correlative points, and when creating or understanding an analogy, people need to make reasoning, which is to find out at least one point in which the targets are same, then based on the same point people can reasoning out other similarities.But between typical metaphor and analogy there are large amounts of mixed situations. When we meet some complicated metaphor, which do not expose the similarities, or contain event metaphors, we need to make analogy. In these situations metaphor and analogy are mixed with each other. So we think that there is a metaphor-analogy continuum: typical metaphor—reasoning metaphor-simile type analogy—typical analogy.My point of the essential difference between metaphor and analogy is that metaphor pursuits creativity and analogy pursuits validity. So metaphor tends to the different-categorical correlative points, whereas analogy tends to identical categorical correlative points. But creativity and analogy are not contrary, they are the two sides to a coin. Metaphor and analogy are based on the same thinking method which is to explain the topic by the help of reference object. So metaphor and analogy constitute a continuum. According to this notion, the paper considers one kind of rhetorical phenomena as analogy-rhetoric.