The Role of Metaphor in Hermeneutic Research

Abstract

The identification and interpretation of metaphor is useful to hermeneutic research. Metaphor is a way of conceiving one concept in terms of another and serves as a function of understanding. The author explores the rise of hermeneutics research and its relevance to nurse artsciencing. Metaphors are a creative strategy hermeneutic researchers can use to analyze and interpret data, and serve as a powerful strategy to represent complex realities, illuminate unnoticed aspects of a phenomenon, and provide depth of meaning to the understanding of human experiences.