Wilson and Sperber--Relevance Theory(31)

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Relevance Theory 269

Loose uses of language are not the only problem for Grice’s maxim of truthfulness. There are questions about how the maxim itself is to be understood, and a series of difficulties with the analysis of tropes as overt violations of the maxim (for detailed discussion, see Wilson & Sperber 2002). Notice, too, that the intuitive similarities between loose talk, metaphor and hyperbole cannot be captured within this framework, since metaphor and hyperbole are seen as overt violations of the maxim of truthfulness, while loose uses of language are not. We have argued that the best solution is to abandon the maxim of truthfulness and treat whatever expectations of truthfulness arise in utterance interpretation as resulting not from an independent maxim, norm or convention of truthfulness, but as by-products of the more basic expectation of relevance. On this approach, loose talk, metaphor and hyperbole involve no violation of any maxim, but are merely alternative routes to achieving optimal relevance. Whether an utterance is literally, loosely or metaphorically understood will depend on the mutual adjustment of context, context and cognitive effects in the effort to satisfy the hearer’s overall expectation of relevance.26

To illustrate this unified approach, consider the exchange in (13):

(13) a. Peter: What do you think of Martin’s latest novel?

b. Mary: It puts me to sleep.

In Grice’s framework, Mary’s utterance in (13b) should have three distinct interpretations: as a literal assertion, a hyperbole or a metaphor.27 Of these, Peter should test the literal interpretation first, and move to a figurative interpretation only if the literal interpretation blatantly violates the maxim of truthfulness. Yet there is now a lot of experimental evidence suggesting that literal interpretations do not have to be Lakoff 1987, Franks & Braisby 1990, Sweetser 1990, Hobbs et al. 1993, Bach 1994a,b, 1997, Recanati 1995, Carston 1997, 1998, this volume, forthcoming, Sperber & Wilson 1998a, Traugott 1998, Wilson 1998, Lasersohn 1999, Asher & Lascarides 2001, Papafragou 2000, Wilson & Sperber 2002).

For early arguments against the maxim of truthfulness, see Wilson & Sperber (1981). For detailed critiques of frameworks based on maxims or conventions of truthfulness, discussion of some existing accounts of loose use, and justification of an alternative, relevance-theoretic account, see Wilson & Sperber (2002). For experimental evidence, see Matsui (1998, 2000), Wilson & Matsui (2000), van der Henst, Carles & Sperber (forthcoming).

For Grice, metaphor and hyperbole involve different types of interpretation process, and may indeed be mutually exclusive: see Grice (1989): 34. 2726

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