LAS METÁFORAS EN LAS CARTAS DE LECTORES DE REVISTAS CIENTÍFICAS.

In this paper I study the presence and use of metaphors in a corpus of letters to the editor published in the Argentinean magazines Ciencia Hoy and Medicina, each representing different levels of specialization (semi-popularization and scientific communication, respectively). As a section of scientific magazines, the genre letters to the editor is used to facilitate and promote the dialogue among editors, authors and readers. The genre is characterized by a relative communicative proximity (Koch & Oesterreicher, 1990) which facilitates the expression of content in a less restricted way, more independence for stylistic choices, and the use of communication strategies and linguistic resources that are not as standardized as those that characterize major scientific genres, such as the research article and the review. In this sense, the genre can be thought of as a more "natural" context of use which could allow for the observation and the description of the presence and use of metaphors that specialists bring into the letters, as they are not restricted by the conventions that regulate the scientists' texts (see Weinrich, 1988; Kretzenbacher, 1995). The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze those metaphors in the corpus that are used as links of intertextuality in the exchanges. Through a linguistic analysis I aim at determining the types of metaphors (conventional and new) and the functions they have in the letters to the editor. The methodology followed consisted of the examination of metaphors in the corpus, the identification and selection of the metaphors that had an intertextual role, the analysis of the cases identified, and the presentation of paradigmatic results. To conclude, I propose a systematization and some final insights which, as expected, should be confirmed in future research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]