Revisiting Cultural Metaphors in Intercultural Communication: Reflections on Cultural Metaphors for India

Cultural metaphors are used in intercultural communication to understand the nuances of national cultures. The idea of cultural metaphors elaborated by Gannon and Pillai provided a set of standard metaphors for cultures of several nations. In the case of India, two cultural metaphors, namely the ‘Dance of Shiva’ and the ‘Kaleidoscope’, are provided to understand the dynamics of national culture. This article attempts a theoretical understanding of the relevance of ‘cultural metaphors’ in intercultural communication and examines their appropriateness in the case of India. Furthermore, it re-examines the established cultural metaphors for India through the examination of its metonymic features. Finally, suggesting a cultural metaphor distinctly different from that outlined by Gannon and Pillai for India, this article aims to extend the idea to understand the cultural underpinnings of India.