The Body as Metaphor

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-39
Author(s):  
Gregory E. Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Community ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Body ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Dual Nature ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Body And Soul ◽  
Mark Johnson

AbstractThis essay considers Philo of Alexandria’s metaphor in which he used the dual nature of embodied existence (body and soul) to argue that both literal and allegorical readings are legitimate. It examines the metaphor in the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CTM) developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson that argues that experience is the key to meaning. A metaphor occurs when we apply a pattern that we have observed in one setting (gestalt) to another. In this case, Philo has drawn on a Platonic/Stoic understanding of being human and applied it to contested hermeneutics within the Alexandrian Jewish community in an effort to maintain a sense of unity among two groups. The metaphorical experience is the recognition that Scripture is polyvalent in the same way that being human is.

A Walk They Remembered: Covenant Relationship as Journey in the Deuteronomistic History

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171
Author(s):  
Michael J. Seufert
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Deuteronomistic History ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Verbs Of Motion ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Spatial Configurations ◽  
Mark Johnson

Multiple recurrent phrases have been identified in the so-called Deuteronomistic History describing Israel’s obedience/disobedience with respect to the Sinaitic covenant. One major set of phrases utilizes verbs of motion to construe Israel’s covenant relationship with Yhwh. The conceptual metaphor theory of George Lakoff and Mark Johnson provides the theoretical tools necessary to understand these deuteronomic phrases as instantiations of a single conceptual metaphor wherein Israel understood and experienced their relationship with Yhwh as a journey. This article examines and coordinates these recurrent phrases through the lens provided by Lakoff and Johnson’s theory, detailing how the spatial configurations of each verb and its construct are mapped onto a relational reality. This article closes with the brief suggestion that the resonance of this particular conceptual metaphor may have taken hold due to the significance of the exodus event in Israel’s historical consciousness.


scholarly journals Analysis of Political Metaphors in Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address in 2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Tang Bingyu
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cognitive Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
State Of The Union ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
The Masses ◽  
The Relationship

On the basis of Conceptual Metaphor Theory proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, this paper conducts a cognitive analysis of conceptual metaphors in Donald J. Trump’s State of the Union Address in 2020, aiming to explain the metaphors in the State of the Union Address, reveal the political intentions hidden behind the metaphors, and construe the relationship between politics and metaphor. It is found that the metaphors in this State of the Union Address are: CONFLICT metaphors, BUILDING metaphor, JOURNEY metaphors, ORIENTATIONAL metaphors, and PLANT metaphors. Through the analysis, this paper concludes that conceptual metaphor has the function of persuading the masses and shaping the image of politicians. At the same time, this paper also finds that politics restricts the choice and application of metaphor.

scholarly journals Konseptualisasi Citra Hara ‘Perut’ dalam Idiom Bahasa Jepang

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Akhmad Saifudin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Perception ◽  
The Body ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Japanese People ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cognitive Experience

 Hara simply means belly, but for Japanese people it means more than physical. Hara is a concept, an important concept related to Japanese human life. This paper discusses the conceptualization of hara image for Japanese people. The study utilizes 25 idioms that contain hara ‘belly’ word that are obtained from several dictionaries of Japanese idioms. This paper is firmly grounded in cognitive linguistics, which relates linguistic expressions to human cognitive experience. The tool for analysis employed in this paper is the “conceptual metaphor theory” pioneered by Lakoff and Johnson. This theory considers human perception, parts of the body, and people’s worldview as the basis for the structure of human language. The analysis of this paper results that metaphorically, hara ‘belly’ is an entity and a container, which contains important elements for humans, such as life, mind, feeling, mentality, and physical. The concept of hara 'belly' for Japanese people is to have a spiritual, psychological, social and cultural, biological, and physical image. Keywords: conceptualization, conceptual metaphor, hara ‘belly’,  idioms, imagee.

Reanimating the Body in Conceptual Metaphor Theory

2019 ◽  
pp. 18-46
Author(s):  
Elisabeth El Refaie
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Semiotics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Body Shapes

This chapter critically reviews the traditional notion of embodiment in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), arguing that it is characterized by a somewhat inflexible view of the way the human body shapes one’s thinking. Probing more recent developments in CMT, including dynamic systems approaches and cross-cultural studies of metaphor, and confronting these with key theories from phenomenology, psychology, social semiotics, and media theory, the original notion of dynamic embodiment is developed. Accordingly, the degree to which people draw on their own bodies when producing and interpreting metaphors depends not only on the cultural practices and the specific actions in which they are engaged at any given moment, but also on the degree to which they are consciously aware of their physicality, as well as the affordances of the modes and media they are using to communicate.

The structure of our concepts: A critical assessment of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a theory of concepts

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peer F. Bundgaard
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Specific Domain ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Experimental Findings

Abstract George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory is by and large a theory of what (abstract) concepts are, how they are structured, and how this structure is acquired — i.e., by mapping of structure from one more concrete or sensory-motor specific domain to another more abstract domain. Conceptual metaphors therefore rest on “cross-domain mappings.” The claims to the effect that our abstract concepts are metaphorically structured and that cross-domain mappings constitute one of the fundamental cognitive meaning-making processes are empirical and can therefore be put to the test. In this paper, I will critically assess Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a theory of concepts in light of recent experimental findings. Many such findings provide evidence for the psychological reality of cross-domain mappings, i.e., that structure activated in one domain actually can perform cognitive tasks carried out in another domain. They do not, however, support the claim that the structure of our (abstract) concepts is still metaphorical, as Lakoff and Johnson claim — that is to say, that our mind actually does perform cross-domain mappings when we process conventional conceptual metaphors such as “Death is Rest” or “Love is a Journey.” Two conclusions can be drawn from this: (1) it is necessary to distinguish between cross-domain mappings (which are psychologically real) and the metaphoric structure of our concepts (which is not, in the sense that such concepts do not any longer activate cross-domain mappings when processed); (2) Conceptual Metaphor Theory is not an adequate theory of concepts. I will therefore sketch another more viable theory of concepts where the structure of our concepts is defined as the full ecology of their situations of use, which includes the kind of situations (objects, agents, interactions) they apply to and the kind of emotional, cognitive, bodily, and behavioral responses they elicit. On this view, the contents of our concepts are to be considered as vague predicates, with vague extensions, which take on a specific form in their situation of use.

Metaphorical conceptualization of emotion in Spanish

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florencia Reali ◽  
Catalina Arciniegas
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
The Body ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Bounded Space ◽  
Concrete Concepts

Over the last two decades, accumulating work in cognitive science and cognitive linguistics has provided evidence that language shapes thought. Conceptual metaphor theory proposes that the conceptual structure of emotions emerges through metaphorization from concrete concepts such as spatial orientation and physical containment. Primary metaphors for emotions have been described in a wide range of languages. Here we show, in Study 1, the results of a corpus analysis revealing that certain metaphors such as EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS and EMOTIONS ARE BOUNDED SPACEs are quite natural in Spanish. Moreover, the corpus data reveal that the bounded space source domain is more frequently mapped onto negative emotions. In Study 2, we consider the question of whether the instantiation of metaphorical framing influences the way we think about emotions. A questionnaire experiment was conducted to explore this question, focusing on the Spanish case of locura (‘madness’). Our results show that when madness was framed as a fluid filling a container (the body), people tended to rate symptoms as less enduring and as more likely to be caused by social and environmental factors, compared with when it was framed as a place in space. Results are discussed in the light of conceptual metaphor theory.

scholarly journals A Cognitive Linguistics Study to Reveal the Concept of Death of Indonesian Indigenous Tribe

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 2626-2634
Author(s):  
Nirwanto Maruf ◽  
Rita Tanduk
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Eternal Life ◽  
Oral Discourse ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff

Despite of many previous studies related to conceptual metaphor have been conducted since George Lakoff and Mark Johnson have introduced their work known as Metaphor We Live By in 1980, but none of them have analysed oral discourse as their corpus. This study aims to reveal the concept of death belonging to one of the Indonesian indigenous tribes located in Sulawesi Island called Kajang tribe. The Kajang tribe has an ancient oral discourse which delivers orally from generation to generation known as Pasang ri Kajang, and it is full of metaphorical expressions. This present study employs the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) introduced by Lakoff and Johnson (1980, 2003), and the approach of conceptual metaphor analysis (CMA) by Charteris Black (2004) to reveal the concept of death found in Pasang ri Kajang. This qualitative research obtained the data through semi-structured interviews, field observation, recording, and note-taking. The conceptual metaphor techniques comprising three CMA stages, namely identification, interpretation, and explanation, were used for data analysis. The results of the study indicate that the concept of death as found in Pasang ri Kajang is DEATH IS A JOURNEY. This conceptual metaphor gives a detailed description of death as a journey of the soul to the hereafter. This research concludes that people of Kajang believes only good souls are rewarded with eternal life (Karakkang) and extraordinary wealth (Kalumannyang kaluppepeang) in the hereafter (ahera). 

scholarly journals Conceptualizing Trauma in Don DeLillo’s Falling Man

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-131
Author(s):  
Daban Q. Jaff ◽  
Yasir A. Al-Jumaili
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphorical Language ◽  
Conceptual Structures ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Mapping Process ◽  
Falling Man

This paper explores the mapping process which is used to conceptualize trauma in one of the post-9/11 novels, namely DeLillo’s Falling Man. The paper focuses on how the traumatic experiences are represented through metaphors. Although many previous studies have attempted stylistic investigations to DeLillo’s novel, very little research approached its metaphorical language. As far as trauma experience is concerned, most of the previous studies discussed these experiences thematically (Kensiton and Quinn, 2008; Gray, 2012; Pozorski, 2014; Keeble, 2014). This study, therefore, offers a stylistic examination of the metaphors of trauma which are used to communicate the negative mental experiences in this novel. It examines the conceptualization of traumatic experiences encountered by the main characters as they are exposed to disturbing events. The study applies insights from Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980; 2003) to selected metaphors from the novel. The application of conceptual metaphor theory allows better understanding of how the abstract state of trauma is conceptualized and communicated through the course of the novel. The experience of trauma is represented variously in this novel, sometimes it is communicated through idiosyncratic metaphors (Moncef, 2016) and sometimes it is represented through using conventional metaphors. The study also examines the mapping process to see how conceptual structures are selected from different source domains and mapped onto the domain of the abstract state of trauma to convey the effects of these distressing experiences.

scholarly journals Metaphors of Sex in Robert Sylvester Kelly’s Selected Songs

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-342
Author(s):  
Saraswati Eka Ramadhani ◽  
Johannes Ananto Prayogo ◽  
Nabhan Fuad Choiron
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Identification Procedures

Abstract: This research investigates metaphors depicting sex used in the lyrics of Robert Sylvester Kelly’s selected songs, which most of the songs are known for their outrageously sexual lyrics. In this case, the aims of this research are: (1) to find out metaphors depicting sex, (2) to convey the meaning of the metaphors used by Robert Sylvester Kelly. Using qualitative research design, this research employed Conceptual Metaphor Theory by George Lakoff and Metaphor Identification Procedures (MIP) by Pragglejaz Group in analyzing the data. The findings reveal that there are six kinds of conceptual metaphors depicting sex found in the data. They are (1) sex is violence, (2) sex is eating, (3) sex is journey/adventure, (4) sex is game, (5) sex is a lesson, and (6) sex is insanity. Based on the analysis, sex is violence is the conceptual metaphor used most frequently by Robert Sylvester Kelly in both albums. Through Lakoff and Johnson theory, the meaning can be easier to understand. It shows that each conceptual metaphor has its own meaning or interpretation of sex. Keywords: metaphor, conceptual metaphor, sex Abstrak: Penelitian ini menganalisis tentang metafora yang menggambarkan seks dalam lirik lagu pilihan Robert Sylvester Kelly, yang sebagian besar lagunya dikenal dengan lirik yang sangat seksual. Dalam hal ini, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk: (1) mengetahui metafora yang menggambarkan seks, (2) menyampaikan makna metafora yang digunakan oleh Robert Sylvester Kelly. Dengan menggunakan desain penelitian kualitatif, penelitian ini menggunakan Teori Metafora Konseptual oleh George Lakoff dan Metaphor Identification Procedures (MIP) oleh Pragglejaz Group dalam menganalisis data. Hasil temuan mengungkapkan bahwa ada enam jenis metafora konseptual yang menggambarkan seks ditemukan dalam data tersebut. Yaitu (1) seks adalah kekerasan, (2) seks adalah makan, (3) seks adalah perjalanan / petualangan, (4) seks adalah permainan, (5) seks adalah pelajaran, dan (6) seks adalah kegilaan. Berdasarkan analisis, seks adalah kekerasan adalah metafora konseptual yang paling sering digunakan oleh Robert Sylvester Kelly di kedua album tersebut. Melalui teori Lakoff dan Johnson, maknanya bisa lebih mudah dipahami. Ini menunjukkan bahwa setiap metafora konseptual memiliki makna atau interpretasi tersendiri tentang seks. Kata kunci: metafora, metafora konseptual, seks

scholarly journals ”Den lange rejse …” – metaforiske betydningslag i filmmediet En analyse af Aarhus Universitets vejlednings-, branding- og rekrutteringskampagne 2012

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (57) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Christine Petersen ◽  
Volkmar Engerer
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Personal Development ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Sequential Structure ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Narrative Techniques ◽  
Visually Based

<p>This article investigates the implicit metaphorical meanings and motifs in a short campaign film and analyses the ways in which the narrative and sequential structure of the film unfolds itself in order to generate these underlying layers of meanings. The short film ‘Tænk. Hvis det er dig’ (‘Think. If It Were You’), which serves as the specific case of this study, was part of Aarhus University’s 2012 branding and student recruitment campaign, which also consisted of a dedicated website and study guidance materials. Using the theoretical insights of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, as proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson in their 1980 book <em>Metaphors We Live By</em>, as a framework for our analysis, we examine the nature of the metaphor(s) used in the film and establish that an implicit metaphorical understanding of ‘education as a journey’ is present throughout the film. In the article, we argue for an interpretation of the underlying narrative metaphor as ‘education as a modern Grand Tour’ – a metaphor that connotes (often culturally-anchored) concepts and notions such as ‘general education’ (<em>Bildung</em>, which includes academic knowledge and skills as well as the notion of the university as a social context), ‘personal development’ and ‘citizenship’. Through this analysis and the explication of underlying structurally- and visually-established metaphorical meanings, we wish to demonstrate how an originally linguistic and textual concept of metaphor as developed in the Conceptual Metaphor Theory can contribute to an in-depth understanding of visually-based cinematic and narrative techniques.   </p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document