How does metaphorical meaning “grow”? – An interpretive approach to literary metaphor from the perspective of Peircean semiotics

Abstract

Abstract Traditional metaphor studies mostly focus on conceptual mapping at the cognitive level and tend to regard metaphor as a largely static projection from the source domain to the target domain. Such a perspective fails to fully account for the unique openness of meaning and aesthetic creativity inherent in literary metaphor. To address this limitation, this paper proposes and applies an interpretive framework for literary metaphor based on C. S. Peirce’s triadic theory of signs. The core mechanism of this approach lies in the divergence of sign forms: through the unconventional reconstruction of conventional sign relationships, the fixed connection between signifier and signified is disrupted, thereby driving the dynamic semantic evolution of the interpretant. By analyzing three categories of literary metaphors, this study demonstrates how literary metaphors employ the “interpretive surplus” to break through the closure of conceptual frameworks and facilitate the dynamic “growth” of meaning beyond static conventions. This research argues that literary metaphor is not merely a cognitive tool. Instead, it functions as an aesthetic channel constructed through the interaction among sign, object and interpretant. While maintaining the interpretive openness of texts, literary metaphor realizes the creative generation of meaning and the deepening of aesthetic experience.