The book is concerned with Vantage Theory, a model of categorization proposed by the American linguist, anthropologist, and cognitive scientist, Robert E. MacLaury (1944-2004). It consists of three of his previously unpublished studies and five chapters by other authors. Vantage Theory (VT) views categorization as a process of vantage (point of view) construction by analogy to the way humans orient themselves in space-time. Originating in the domain of color, the theory was extended to cover other aspects of cognition and language. The chapters authored by MacLaury introduce the model,...

Numerous linguists of various orientations, translators and literary scholars share an interest in text. As students of language with very diverse interests and aims, they ask themselves, if only subconsciously, the following questions: What kind(s) of texts do we study? Why do we study them? What are we looking for? What do and don't we find? What do we do with whatever we do find? What does it tell us about language, its speakers or the human mind? Generally, what is (a) text for me as a linguist and/or translator? In the present volume, the questions are brought onto the level of the...