Analysing metaphor in gesture: A set of metaphor identification guidelines for gesture (MIG-G)

While many metaphor scholars nowadays might find it natural, and even expected, that there would be a chapter in a volume such as this concerning the analysis of metaphor in gesture, this view is relatively recent in the field of metaphor studies. Though the idea that gestures could constitute a form of metaphoric expression was suggested at least as early as Wundt (1922), it was McNeill’s (1992) book Hand and Mind which brought the different functions of gestures, including metaphoric representation, to a broad audience. (See Cienki and Müller 2008b for more historical background on the field of study.) However, in order to sensibly look for metaphor in gesture, the first issue to consider is how one is understanding the term ‘metaphor’.