Metaphors and the Amplification of Meaning

In this chapter, we explore the creation of meaning through metaphor. We pay special attention to the expansion of meaning through metaphors establishing connections between semantic domains, explaining one phenomenon in terms of others, while carefully articulating the trade-offs always involved. Metaphors, just as narratives, can travel, sometimes conspicuously without their narratives, sometimes accompanied. They can gain and lose strength, and they can encounter resistance. We then consider the importance of metaphoric understandings of leadership, community, environment and good governance, concepts central to the understanding of sustainability leadership.