Vol 28, No 1 (2024): Metaphor across Languages, Cultures and Discourses

Articles

Metaphors across languages, cultures and discourses: A research agenda

Zibin A., Solopova O.A.

Abstract

This special issue explores metaphor across languages, cultures, and discourses, bringing together papers that reflect the diversity and scope of this research area. The aim is to foster discussion and exchange ideas concerning the role of metaphor in conceptualization, persuasion, and the construction of meaning. In this introductory article, we focus on the two main themes: (1) the universality of metaphor versus cultural variations in its usage; (2) the communicative function of metaphor in discourse. Within these main themes, we discuss case studies that highlight specific domains, including universal and cross-cultural variation in metaphor usage, discursive and communicative aspects of metaphor, and multimodal metaphor. In this article, we provide a summary of the contributions of our authors that represent up-to-date research on issues involving metaphor from a wide scope of perspectives and manage to open up a methodological discussion within metaphor studies. Finally, we summarize the main results and suggest a brief avenue for further research.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):7-32
pages 7-32 views

Old English emotion is temperature: Cultural influences on a universal experience

Díaz-Vera J.E.

Abstract

In recent years, the study of emotion metaphors and metonymies has broadened our understanding of how people conceptualise and verbalise their emotional experiences. While some emotion source domains appear to be culture-specific, others are widely employed to denominate the same emotion. One of these potentially universal source domains, temperature, appears to be widely used by speakers from different areas to derive figurative expressions for positive and negative emotions. However, the systematic study of this emotion source domain remains uncharted territory, and numerous fundamental questions about the relations between emotions and temperature remain untouched. This study aims at approaching the question of whether, and to what extent, the motif emotion is temperature illustrates the existence of a universalist embodiment model or, on the contrary, it is a result of historical and cultural variation. With this aim, using cognitive semantic methodology, I will scrutinize the complete corpus of Old English texts (850-1100) to provide a fine-grained analysis of the expressions for positive emotions rooted in the source domain high body temperature used by Old English authors. Generally speaking, this source domain indicates negative experience, which is why it has normally been studied in the context of negative (and, in consequence, unpleasant) emotional experiences. However, as the findings of this study show, the existence in Old English of the conceptual mapping positive emotion is high body temperature challenges our previous understanding of temperature metaphors as a product of universal embodiment, thus contributing to the current debate on metaphors as culture loaded expressions.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):33-54
pages 33-54 views

Universality versus variation in the conceptualization of anger: A question of methodology

Kövecses Z., Benczes R., Rommel A., Szelid V.

Abstract

Cognitive linguistic investigations into the metaphorical conceptualization of anger suggest that languages are remarkably similar on a schematic level, with intensity and control as two, possibly universal dimensions underlying the metaphorical conceptualization of anger. These dimensions, however, can manifest themselves in language-specific metaphors. Yet arriving at a definitive answer to the question of universality versus variation is hindered by (a) a relatively limited number of systematic, contrastive analyses; and (b) varied methodologies, with some papers adopting a type-based account, while others following a token-based analysis. We take up both challenges in the present paper with the aim of offering a more definitive answer to the question of the universality and variation of anger metaphors. We investigate the anger metaphors of a type-based analysis, focusing on dictionary data of anger-related idioms, and a token-based analysis, focusing on data collected from online corpora, in three languages: (American) English (2,000 random instances of the lemma anger from the Corpus of Contemporary American English), Hungarian (1,000 instances of the lemma düh from the Hungarian National Corpus) and Russian (1,000 instances of the lemma gnev from the Russian National Corpus). The lexical data were analyzed with the well-established Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP). Our results indicate that there is a great deal of congruence relative to shared metaphors in both approaches, but this derives from specific-level metaphors in the lexical approach, whereas it derives from more schematic, generic-level metaphors in the corpus-based approach. The study shows that the full picture of the metaphorical conceptualization of a complex emotion concept such as anger can only emerge with the combination of the type- and token-based approach.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):55-79
pages 55-79 views

The role of metaphor in creating polysemy complexes in Jordanian Arabic and American English

Zibin A., Khalifah L., Altakhaineh A.R.

Abstract

Most papers written on polysemy focus on sense overlaps and lexical ambiguity, yet studies that explore the possibility of establishing a polysemic complex and explaining how the new interpretations arise through metaphor are almost non-existent in Arabic. This paper aims to explore how metaphor serves to create new concepts as part of polysemic complexes through adopting Dynamic Conceptual Semantics. The target words are bidʒannin [make mad][1] in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and mad in American English (AE). An online questionnaire containing 15 items was sent to forty participants (20 JA speakers and 20 AE speakers) where they were asked to provide the interpretations of the words bidʒannin and mad in contextualized sentences. The AE contextualized instances of mad were collected from Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) which generated 5,168 tokens of mad (in the years 2015/2019). The questionnaire results were discussed in a semi-structured focus-group discussion involving 10 participants. We have demonstrated that when an expression is deemed suitable for all situations categorized under both the primary perspective of madness and a related perspective involving exaggerated descriptions of entities, a concept (P) emerges that bears similarity or relevance to the polysemic complex ( bidʒannin\mad ) to which the expression belongs. In such cases, we can consider the related perspective (P') as a member of the polysemic complex ( bidʒannin\mad ). Thus, this study explains how the same metaphor can lead to a complex of multiple meanings in two different languages that are not necessarily related to each other.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):80-101
pages 80-101 views

French political symbolism and identity construction

Trim R.

Abstract

The present study examines how the language of political symbolism operates within the framework of identity construction. It focusses on the themes of sovereignty during the 2022 French presidency of the European Union and the national presidential election campaign. On the basis of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, it suggests that, apart from purely linguistic features, extra-linguistic factors are also essential in order to convey a global view of symbolic rhetoric. The analysis is conducted according to an overall 6-tier model of figurative origins involving the parameters of personal background, political context, cultural history, reference, conceptual metaphor and linguistic metaphor. By applying the parameters of the model, it is proposed that the core of political argumentation in the corpus analysis is based on national symbols and the conceptual mapping they embody. The basic hypothesis of the model assumes that a politician attempts to portray the symbolisation of unity in accordance with his or her political background and personal biography. A political narrative is thereby created within the current political context using predominant symbols in cultural history. An over-riding factor is the role of referential points which may determine divergence in conceptual mapping. These features then lead to the construction of conceptual metaphors which can take on a particularly hyperbolic structure in the ensuing linguistic metaphors. The implications of the study highlight the important role of symbolism in political debate, its interaction with conceptual metaphor, the relevance of extra-linguistic factors portrayed by the 6-tier model, the link between cultural history and hyperbolic linguistic structures and political divergence in similar symbols.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):102-122
pages 102-122 views

The explanatory function of metaphor scenario in the Serbian pro-vaccine discourse

Silaški N., Đurović T.

Abstract

Metaphor has been established and extensively examined as one of the tools experts deploy to explain, simplify and transform complex scientific discourse into the knowledge suitable for the audience of non-experts. However, relatively little research has been conducted on metaphor scenario (Musolff 2006, 2016a) and its role in this process. Therefore, in this paper we explore how metaphor scenario is used to explain Covid-19 vaccines’ safety and effectiveness to the population in an understandable manner in order to speed up the immunization process in Serbia. By analysing a data set gathered from various Serbian electronic news media sources ( NovaS , N1 , Danas , Vreme , Večernje novosti , Mondo , Politika , Telegraf , Krug ) published from January to December 2021, we aim to explore (1) how the three metaphor scenarios, combat, container and movement, may help simplify complex scientific concepts in the pro-vaccine discourse; and (2) how the conceptual elements of these scenarios and their interconnected relations are used for this purpose. The findings showed that these conventional scenarios manifest their explanatory potential by means of several sub-scenarios, whose conceptual elements establish useful mappings relying on rarely used components of source domains. The results confirm that metaphor scenarios may be used strategically by medical experts as an apt explanatory tool to simplify challengingly complex scientific concepts to the general public. The paper contributes to current research on the role that metaphor and other cognitive instruments play in science popularization.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):123-143
pages 123-143 views

Politics metaphor in British and Bosnian-Herzegovinian migration discourse

Mujagić M.

Abstract

As the geopolitical situation changes, it is necessary to discuss how politics is structured by metaphor in the context of recent social phenomena, such as the European migrant crisis. This paper analyses the conceptual metaphors politics as war, politics as a game, politics as a trade, and politics as a theater in British and Bosnian-Herzegovinian newspapers. The goal of this study is to establish to what extent and in which situations journalists resort to figurative language to persuade the recipients to view politics in a desired way. The paper aims to reflect on the use of deliberate metaphor as a perspective-changing device by journalists striving to achieve their rhetorical goals and influence recipients’ perception of the political situation. The corpus comprises 174 British and 307 Bosnian-Herzegovinian articles collected from August 2015 to March 2016 (247,912 words). Relying on Steen et al.’s (2010) model of metaphor analysis, the paper investigates the types of metaphor in the corpus, the deliberate use of politics metaphors and their communicative function in migration discourse - discussing both the rhetorical goals of journalists and the rhetorical effects on recipients. It has been established that the analyzed set of metaphors has a divertive and persuasive function in migration discourse. Similar studies are encouraged to shed light on how deliberate metaphors related to politics may have diverging communicative functions in other types of discourse.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):144-165
pages 144-165 views

Metaphor power in the context of the author’s opinion expression and perception

Kalinin O.I., Ignatenko A.V.

Abstract

The article explores the relationship between the functional potential of metaphor and the expression and perception of the author’s opinion. Metaphor is considered as a means of implicit speech impact exerted both from the positions of its generation and perception. This paper aims to identify the correlation between the author’s opinion and various aspects of metaphor power, namely density (the number of metaphors per text), intensity (the ratio of new and conventional metaphors) and the metaphor projections typology (the ratio among orientational, ontological, and structural metaphors). The data for the study were obtained from a two-stage linguistic experiment. First, 20 experts in Russian Philology and Journalism composed three-part texts about Russia (its history, culture, and people), and were asked to summarise their personal opinion in the most relevant part. Then 180 respondents who were students of Moscow State Linguistics University identified the author’s position in the composed essays. The latter were analysed using metaphor-driven discourse analysis (MDDA), which included the identification of metaphor density, their intensity, and functional typology indices. Next, the MDDA numerical values of indices were juxtaposed with the data reflecting the author’s opinion expression and its perception by the respondents. The findings showed that metaphor intensity and density are related to the verbal message persuasion, since in 80% of the cases personal opinion was set forth in those text parts that contained the greatest number of the author’s metaphors. The proven relationship between metaphor power and the author’s opinion expression makes it possible to identify metaphorical speech impact, which reflects forms and degrees of speech impact in different types of texts. Thus, the results expand the theoretical and practical framework for the study of metaphorical speech persuasion.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):166-189
pages 166-189 views

Modern metaphor research in Russia: Trends, schools and results

Chudinov A.P., Shustrova E.V.

Abstract

This article focuses on various trends and linguistic approaches to metaphor studies in Russia (2019-2023). The latter deal with different types of metaphors, process of metaphor formation and the use of metaphors in discourse. The basic methods of investigation include comparative, inductive, generalization and descriptive approaches. The article summarises new results in modern studies of metaphor on data from Slavic, Romance and Germanic languages. In the paper, we show the role of metaphor both as a trope and a cognitive operation in monolingual and comparative studies. Alongside these traditional areas, we discuss the results of metaphor studies in multimodal texts and corpora. Multimodal texts are frequently constructed on the intersection of mental, semiotic and semantic fields. Corpora, which have proved to be a convenient source of recent and reliable data, present another modern sphere of investigation of metaphoric potential in Russian studies. We discuss such important areas of metaphor studies as the interdisciplinary approach, pluralism of methods, critical attitudes to universalism, emphasis on cultural features of communication and discourse, and the blending of rhetorical and cognitive methods.

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):190-209
pages 190-209 views

Anatoly P. Chudinov, Edward V. Budaev & Olga A. Solopova. 2023. Political Metaphorology: Cognitive and Discursive Studies 政治隐喻学 认知-话语研究. Peking University Press

Koshkarova N.N.

Abstract

-

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):210-214
pages 210-214 views

Alleen Pace Nilsen and Don L.F. Nilsen. 2019. The Language of Humor. Cambridge: CUP

Katermina V.V.

Abstract

-

Russian Journal of Linguistics. 2024;28(1):215-220
pages 215-220 views

This website uses cookies

You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.

About Cookies