scholarly journals A wave of metaphors: image and visual metaphors in cartoons from a cognitive-discursive perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 874-899
Author(s):  
Solange Coelho Vereza ◽  
Dalby Dienstbach

This paper aligns with a field of research that deals with the use of multimodal metaphors from a cognitive-discursive perspective. In this context, we aim to investigate the role played by images in the instantiation of cross-domain mappings in a particular genre. Specifically, we describe and analyze the cognitive-discursive nature and functioning of visual metaphors in political and social cartoons. This paper first explores the concepts of image schemas, image metaphors, and visual metaphors, as well as the notion of metaphoricity in discourse. We then carry out the analysis of multimodal metaphors in a corpus of editorial cartoons that depict the Covid-19 pandemic, and other related issues within social and political contexts. Some of our findings suggest that cartoons often evoke multilayered off-line frames, image metaphors and conceptual metaphors in order to enhance the persuasive power of their semiotic arrangement, especially by inviting their audience to actively participate in meaning-construction processes

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peer F. Bundgaard

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.


Jezikoslovlje ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-219
Author(s):  
Sanja Kiš Žuvela ◽  
Ana Ostroški Anić

Most conceptual metaphors that conceptualize musical pitch rely heavily on human perception, images and experience structured through spatial and orientation image schemas such as the schema of verticality. The paper analyses conceptual metaphors that structure pitch relations in terms of vertical space, thickness and size as they appear in the Croatian musical terminology. The image schemas of verticality and size are analysed within the conceptual metaphors pitch relations are relations in vertical space and pitch relations are relations in size in order to define to what extent their motivation is embodied and universal, and what can be attributed to cross-cultural and cross-linguistic influences present in the creation and understanding of music terminology in Croatia.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
JEAN M. MANDLER ◽  
CRISTÓBAL PAGÁN CÁNOVAS

abstractIn this theoretical paper we propose three different kinds of cognitive structure that have not been differentiated in the psychological and cognitive linguistic literatures. They are spatial primitives, image schemas, and schematic integrations. Spatial primitives are the first conceptual building blocks formed in infancy, image schemas are simple spatial stories built from them, and schematic integrations use the first two types to build concepts that include non-spatial elements, such as force and emotion. These different kinds of structure have all come under the umbrella term of ‘image schemas’. However, they differ in their content, developmental origin, imageability, and role in meaning construction in language and in thought. The present paper indicates how preverbal conceptualization needs to be taken into account for a complete understanding of image schemas and their uses. It provides examples to illustrate this influence, the most important of these being the primacy of imageable spatial information.


2019 ◽  
pp. 58-71
Author(s):  
Aliona Matiychak

From the perspective of modern cognitive science the conceptual metaphor reflects the mental aspect of cognition and creation of a new conception of the world. Therefore, numerous researchers in the area of conceptual metaphor explored it as the understanding of one conceptual domain in terms of another, paying little attention to the role of fiction diegesis. Thus, the objective of the article is to gain a better understanding of conceptual metaphor perception in the diegesis of Steven Hall's fiction. In “The Raw Shark Texts” the conceptual worldview helps the protagonist to recreate the chronicle of his self-identification after the posttraumatic loss of memory. Human knowledge, experience and communication as well as his individual mind, ideas and thoughts are perceived by the protagonist’s split personality as an aquatic space inhabited by conceptual fish. His fear of the conceptual shark, feeding on his memory, generates distinctive psychedelic hydro-text in the form of specific narrative structures. The state of fear also extends to increased human dependence on technology, digital databases (on-line memory storage and loss). The discreteness of narrative diegesis emphasizes the protagonist’s frustrations and is used by the author as a literary imitation of dissociative amnesia. Besides peculiar metaphorical expressions, in the author’s visual metaphors, owing to the simultaneous implementation of the first and second planes of the metaphor content, a third plane (a new reality) arises. Comprehension of conceptual metaphors as intimately interconnected in the narrative diegesis reveals the way of creating layered, intertwined conceptual reality exemplified by the First / the Second Eric Sanderson’s narrative structures. Consequently, metaphorical expressions and visual metaphors in Steven Hall's novel are merely a manifestation of the conceptual metaphors underlying them. Reproducing the features of perception mechanisms in their interaction with psychological, the author was able to catch the common between tangible things and abstract concepts, matter and idea, to compare the incomparable. This approach allows us to consider the conceptual metaphor as a structural component of meta-fiction and to emphasize the cognition specificity of metaphor in creation of new realities in it.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 777
Author(s):  
Natália Elvira Sperandio

Abstract: Almost forty years ago, the proposal of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory represented a milestone for Cognitive Linguistics studies. From this point, many pieces of research were developed around the analytical category of metaphor. However, the majority of these papers are still in the monomodal field, intending to build a concept resulting from the source and target domains that come specifically from the verbal structures. Taking this into consideration, this paper intends to focus on the metaphorical occurrence in diverse semiotic modes that constitute multimodal texts. In order to fulfill this aim, we outlined a corpus of five editorial cartoons about “fake news”. Our specific objective is to, making use of the concept of multimodal metaphors proposed by Forceville (1996, 2009), presented how the different semiotic modes, in this case the verbal and the visual ones, are interwoven in the building of these metaphors. In this way, in our study, besides validating the thesis proposed by Forceville (2009) about the occurrence of metaphors not only in the verbal mode, it was also possible to verify the importance of multimodal metaphors for the meaning construction process in the analyzed genre.Keywords: metaphors; multimodal metaphors; fake news.Resumo: Há quase quarenta anos atrás um marco nos estudos da Linguística Cognitiva, em especial em sua semântica, ocorreu: a proposta da Teoria da Metáfora Conceitual. A partir desse trabalho, muitas pesquisas foram desenvolvidas em torno da categoria analítica da metáfora. Porém, grande parte desses trabalhos ainda encontra-se no campo dos denominados textos monomodais, visando apenas a construção conceitual resultante de domínios fonte e alvo oriundos especificamente do modo verbal. Diante disso, o presente artigo propõe-se a promover um trabalho dedicado à ocorrência metafórica nos diferentes modos semióticos que constituem os textos multimodais. Para cumprirmos tal objetivo, delineamos como corpus cinco charges que versam sobre o conceito fake news. Nosso objetivo específico consiste em apresentar, através do conceito de metáforas multimodais, proposto por Forceville (1996, 2009), a forma pela qual diferentes modos semióticos, nesse caso em especial o verbal e o imagético, imbricaram-se na construção dessas metáforas. Assim, em nosso estudo, além de vislumbrarmos a validação da proposição de Forceville (2009) sobre a não ocorrência do processo metafórico apenas no modo verbal, foi possível a verificação da importância das metáforas multimodais para a construção dos sentidos do gênero em análise.Palavras-chave: metáforas; metáfora multimodal; fake news.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-81
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. McElhanon

I have five goals for this paper. First, I will demonstrate the influence that the understanding of metaphor has had on the praxis of translation. Second, I will introduce and apply more recent insights in human conceptual processes, in particular those of image-schemas, conceptual metaphors and conceptual blends. Third, I will introduce optimality principles and relate them to the suggested conceptual blends. Fourth, I will present some translations of conceptual blends and then suggest optimality principles for translating conceptual blends and evaluate the translations by them. Finally, I will suggest areas that require further research. This study is exploratory and suggestive. Hopefully, readers will wish to broaden their understanding of cognitive linguistics and refine what is presented here.


2015 ◽  
Vol 47 ◽  
pp. 161-179
Author(s):  
Marcin Grygiel

Instrumental of affirmation in selected Slavic languagesIn the present article I argue that apart from the genitive of negation, Slavic also makes use of the instrumental of affirmation – but its recognition requires a more sophisticated, function-oriented analytic model, firmly grounded in the real linguistic usage and sensitive to semantic conditioning – such as cognitive semantics. The discussion offered seems to suggest that the Slavic instrumental is an inherently affirmative case, as opposed to genitive which has specialized in expressing partition, disjunction and negation, e.g. compare Pol. ciasto z orzechami/ Srb. kolač sa orasima ‘a cake with nuts INSTR’ vs. Pol. ciasto bez orzechów/ Srb. kolač bez oraha ‘a cake without nuts GEN’. Furthermore, because of its semantic properties, the instrumental case is attracted by positive contexts and acts as an intensifier of affirmation. Slavic instrumentals can be classified, on the basis of the positive meanings they imply, as instrumentals of completeness, instrumentals of conjunction and instrumentals of existence. The proposed semantic classification becomes more refined when image-schemas of CONTAINER, PATH, SURFACE and conceptual metaphors related to the physical relation of COVERAGE are included in the model.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-353
Author(s):  
Peipei Niu

Abstract Conceptual metaphor theory highlights that metaphor is a matter of thinking. This assumption indicates that metaphors exist not only in language, but also in other modes. This study examines uses of visual and visual-verbal metaphors in 50 Chinese editorial cartoons conceptualizing serious haze problem, with the intention of eliciting implicit meaning conveyed by visual signs alone or together with verbal texts. Both conceptual and critical discourse analysis of the metaphors are conducted. The study finds that the way a metaphor is realized visually and verbally in a cartoon determines the features mapped onto the topic, and further implicitly expresses a critical stance toward the topic under discussion. The metaphors in the cartoons evoke a general understanding of haze problem by activating the war scenario and familiar cultural or social context in viewers. It is found in this corpus that visual fusion and visual replacement are the most frequent kinds of visual metaphors. The study further affirms that visual metaphors are better in conveying rich and implicit conceptual and affective meaning, and can be direct manifestation of the conceptual metaphor without the mediation of language. In sum the study suggests the need for an integrated approach to visual metaphoric representation in multimodal analysis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-200
Author(s):  
Orsolya Putz

Abstract This paper studies the visual representation of the Treaty of Trianon by identifying the most common image metaphors related to it.1 Three hypotheses are articulated. (1) Visual metaphors about Trianon are based on the same underlying conceptual metaphors as the corresponding metaphorical linguistic expressions. However, it is proposed that figures tend to be construed of mixed metaphors in order to convey a more condensed and complex message. In case of mixed metaphors, more source domains are applied to conceptualize the same target domain. (2) There exists a cultural cognition (Sharifian 2011) about Trianon, which is shared by the contemporary Hungarian community and which is represented in different modes of communication, namely in language and in images. The members of the community are able to understand and (re-)produce the linguistic and image metaphors about Trianon, because their conceptual system about Trianon is structured by similar conceptual metaphors. (3) Furthermore, based on linguistic data Putz (2019), it is assumed that the figures represent the perspective of the post-1920 Hungarian nation exclusively.2 The data is based on a Google search conducted on January 15, 2019, which referenced figures of Trianon with a .hu internet domain. Among the hundreds of thousands of search results, the first 150 figures were selected and ordered into six categories. Among this set of figures, the analysis focused on illustrations based on maps of pre- and post-1920 Hungary. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of eight figures, based on a three-step procedure, which is motivated by Steen et al.’s (2017) protocol.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147035722110049
Author(s):  
Joost Schilperoord ◽  
Neil Cohn

This article addresses visual optimal innovations such as memes, advertising images and editorial cartoons which take Michelangelo’s fresco The Creation of Adam as input, and rework it so that novel meaning is created that takes the meaning of the input as base. The authors focus on the cognitive and structural aspects of these kinds of visual stimulus. They argue that visual optimal innovations are aesthetically rewarding owing to how they invite meaning construction, and they further demonstrate that these aspects of visual communication are encoded in human memory to make up entries in a ‘visual lexicon’. The main questions addressed are: What graphic procedures are employed to create such stimuli, and how are they structured? How are existing and novel meanings evoked by visual optimal innovations, and how are they aligned? How are visual optimal innovations processed and interpreted? And, finally, how is all this knowledge – structural and conceptual – cognitively represented?


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