Russian Journal of LinguisticsRussian Journal of LinguisticsRussian Journal of Linguistics2687-00882686-8024Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba (RUDN University)2061410.22363/2312-9182-2019-23-1-23-39SOCIOLINGUISTICSСОЦИОЛИНГВИСТИКА社会语言学Research ArticleCreativity in Metaphor InterpretationТворческая интерпретация метафорMusolffAndreasМузолфАндреасProfessor of Intercultural Communication at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK).профессор, преподает межкультурную коммуникацию в Университете Восточной Англии в Норвиче (Великобритания).A.Musolff@uea.ac.ukUniversity of East AngliaУниверситет Восточной Англии15122019231VOL 23, NO1 (2019)ТОМ 23, №1 (2019)233926022019Copyright ©; 2019, Musolff A.Copyright ©; 2019, Музолф А.Copyright ©; 2019, Musolff A.2019Musolff A.Музолф А.Musolff A.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0https://journals.rudn.ru/linguistics/article/view/20614This paper looks at corpus- and survey-based evidence of innovative interpretative metaphor use that changes the default meaning of well-established figurative constructions. Specifically, we look at interpretation-induced changes in the meaning of corporeal metaphors, on the basis of a corpus of British political discourse and a questionnaire survey of more than 1000 respondents from 31 linguistic backgrounds in 10 countries. The corpus-based evidence consists of metaphor-production data that show how situational variation in metaphor use can over time create a semantic-pragmatic drift that changes the dominant meaning of a conventional metaphor expression. The questionnaire survey reveals four distinct models for body-focused readings (i.e. nation as geobody, as hierarchical functional whole, as part of speaker’s body, as part of larger body), plus a further set person-focused readings. The two most frequent body-focused interpretations, i.e. nation as geobody and nation as hierarchical functional whole, as well as the person-stereotypes versions show divergent frequency and elaboration patterns across the Chinese- vs. English-L1 respondent groups, which may be linked to specific cultural conceptual and discursive traditions. Both data sets indicate a strong creative element in metaphor interpretation, which accounts for a significant degree of variation in the creation of new metaphorical concepts.В статье рассматривается инновационное творческое осмысление метафор, меняющее значение устойчивых образных выражений. В частности анализируются интерпретационные изменения в семантике телесных метафор. В качестве материала выступают корпус британского политического дискурса и результаты опроса более 1000 респондентов из 10 стран, говорящих на 31 языке. Корпусные данные показывают, каким образом ситуативные вариации в использовании метафор могут со временем формировать семантико-прагматические тенденции, меняющие доминантное значение устойчивых метафорических выражений. Опрос позволяет выделить четыре модели прочтения телесных метафор (нация как геоструктура, иерархически функционирующее целое, часть тела говорящего, часть более крупного целого), а также их последующие антропоцентричные осмысления. Две наиболее распространенные интерпретации - нация как геоструктура и иерархически функционирующее целое, а также варианты стереотипизации личности, демонстрируют несовпадение частотности и толкования соответствующих единиц респондентами - носителями китайского и английского языков, что может быть связано с культурно-специфическими концептуальными и дискурсивными традициями. 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