| Abstrakt: |
Although theories of agricultural breeding came to epitomize Charles Darwin's evolutionary argument, little scholarship considers the rhetoric of agricultural writings he consulted. This inattention results from scholars misunderstanding how breeding figures in the Origin, with most suggesting Darwin uses it metaphorically or analogically. It is, however, better considered a metonymy, substituting a condensed causal description of selection that is qualitatively identical to the more complex process of natural evolution. Reevaluating Darwin's use of figuration sheds light on the way he and other scientists use a wider array of figurative resources (beyond metaphor), and particularly metonymy, to make causal arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
