> There need not be anything unfamiliar with a metaphor or any explanatory power behind a metaphor
The purpose is still explanatory, it's just possible for the explanation to be in terms of perceptions rather than structure: in your example with wife/bright sun the purpose is still to make an identification between two domains, one familiar, one not ("bright sun" is familiar to the reader; author's wife is not), but rather than the two being "structurally similar" it's that they evoke similar experiences in the author, and the author is able to explain their experience by sharing this identification.
That said, I agree with you that what I was discussing is closer to definitions of analogy in certain areas of cognitive science (e.g. Hofstadter's work, like you've pointed out—or John Sowa's: http://www.jfsowa.com/logic/theories.htm)
But the original example with the library would've been better termed an analogy to begin with, rather than a metaphor—I just adopted the previous commenter's terminology :) (though admittedly I'm more inclined to interchange the two fluidly because I don't find the differences essential: I would just call the kind of metaphor you used a perceptual analogy. Maybe I am missing something important about metaphor though—I'd be curious to hear if so!)
The purpose is still explanatory, it's just possible for the explanation to be in terms of perceptions rather than structure: in your example with wife/bright sun the purpose is still to make an identification between two domains, one familiar, one not ("bright sun" is familiar to the reader; author's wife is not), but rather than the two being "structurally similar" it's that they evoke similar experiences in the author, and the author is able to explain their experience by sharing this identification.
That said, I agree with you that what I was discussing is closer to definitions of analogy in certain areas of cognitive science (e.g. Hofstadter's work, like you've pointed out—or John Sowa's: http://www.jfsowa.com/logic/theories.htm)
But the original example with the library would've been better termed an analogy to begin with, rather than a metaphor—I just adopted the previous commenter's terminology :) (though admittedly I'm more inclined to interchange the two fluidly because I don't find the differences essential: I would just call the kind of metaphor you used a perceptual analogy. Maybe I am missing something important about metaphor though—I'd be curious to hear if so!)