Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2021.1882258
C. Roncero, R. G. de Almeida, Laura Pissani, I. Patalas
ABSTRACT Studies have suggested that metaphors (Lawyers are sharks) and similes (Lawyers are like sharks) have distinct representations: metaphors engender more figurative and abstract properties, whereas similes engender more literal properties. We investigated to what extent access to such representations occurs automatically, during on-line reading. In particular, we examined whether similes convey a more literal meaning by following the metaphors and similes with explanations that expressed either a figurative (dangerous) or a literal property (fish) of the vehicle. In a self-paced reading with a moving window paradigm, we presented participants with negated simile and metaphor main clauses (Lawyers are not (like) sharks) followed by explanations that also negated either a figurative (because lawyers are not dangerous) or a literal property of the vehicle (because lawyers are not fish). We found that vehicles (sharks) in metaphors were read significantly faster than those in similes. In addition, explanations negating a figurative property were read faster after metaphors, whereas explanations negating a literal property were read faster after similes. These results support the hypothesis that metaphors and similes rely on different interpretive processes, suggesting that similes access literal representations while metaphor access figurative ones in real time.
{"title":"A metaphor is not like a simile: reading-time evidence for distinct interpretations for negated tropes","authors":"C. Roncero, R. G. de Almeida, Laura Pissani, I. Patalas","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2021.1882258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2021.1882258","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Studies have suggested that metaphors (Lawyers are sharks) and similes (Lawyers are like sharks) have distinct representations: metaphors engender more figurative and abstract properties, whereas similes engender more literal properties. We investigated to what extent access to such representations occurs automatically, during on-line reading. In particular, we examined whether similes convey a more literal meaning by following the metaphors and similes with explanations that expressed either a figurative (dangerous) or a literal property (fish) of the vehicle. In a self-paced reading with a moving window paradigm, we presented participants with negated simile and metaphor main clauses (Lawyers are not (like) sharks) followed by explanations that also negated either a figurative (because lawyers are not dangerous) or a literal property of the vehicle (because lawyers are not fish). We found that vehicles (sharks) in metaphors were read significantly faster than those in similes. In addition, explanations negating a figurative property were read faster after metaphors, whereas explanations negating a literal property were read faster after similes. These results support the hypothesis that metaphors and similes rely on different interpretive processes, suggesting that similes access literal representations while metaphor access figurative ones in real time.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"36 1","pages":"85 - 98"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2021.1882258","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49055291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-03DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2021.1887708
D. Tay
ABSTRACT Hong Kong is undergoing two overlapping crises: social unrest over anti-government protests, and COVID-19. The media has linked these events in both objective and subjective ways. While some liken the social unrest to COVID-19, others do the opposite. This is an intriguing real-world instance of source-target reversibility with interchangeable source and target resulting in two apt variants. This paper reports a survey study of the links between crisis perceptions and the aptness of metaphor variants. Participants (N = 93) rated 30 matched items on the effects of both crises on trust in governance, interpersonal relations, the economy, physical/mental health, and Hong Kong’s future. This determined, for each participant, a correlation coefficient reflecting perceived structural similarity, and absolute/raw difference scores reflecting perceived substantive similarity of the crises. They then explained which (or neither) of two constructed headlines depicting the SOCIAL UNREST as COVID-19 or COVID-19 as the SOCIAL UNRESTwas more apt. Logistic regression analyses showed that i) metaphor aptness was predictable from structural but not substantive similarity, and ii) the worse crisis was preferred as source domain, but only for its more experientially concrete aspects. The study exemplifies socio-culturally situated’ theoretical investigation and how metaphor research can shed light on crisis perceptions.
{"title":"Is the Social Unrest like COVID-19 or Is COVID-19 like the Social Unrest? A Case Study of Source-target Reversibility","authors":"D. Tay","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2021.1887708","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2021.1887708","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Hong Kong is undergoing two overlapping crises: social unrest over anti-government protests, and COVID-19. The media has linked these events in both objective and subjective ways. While some liken the social unrest to COVID-19, others do the opposite. This is an intriguing real-world instance of source-target reversibility with interchangeable source and target resulting in two apt variants. This paper reports a survey study of the links between crisis perceptions and the aptness of metaphor variants. Participants (N = 93) rated 30 matched items on the effects of both crises on trust in governance, interpersonal relations, the economy, physical/mental health, and Hong Kong’s future. This determined, for each participant, a correlation coefficient reflecting perceived structural similarity, and absolute/raw difference scores reflecting perceived substantive similarity of the crises. They then explained which (or neither) of two constructed headlines depicting the SOCIAL UNREST as COVID-19 or COVID-19 as the SOCIAL UNRESTwas more apt. Logistic regression analyses showed that i) metaphor aptness was predictable from structural but not substantive similarity, and ii) the worse crisis was preferred as source domain, but only for its more experientially concrete aspects. The study exemplifies socio-culturally situated’ theoretical investigation and how metaphor research can shed light on crisis perceptions.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"36 1","pages":"99 - 115"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2021-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2021.1887708","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49303586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1843970
Juana Park, Faria Sana, Christina L. Gagné, T. Spalding
ABSTRACT We analyzed the processing of noun-noun metaphors (e.g., velvet lips), which have been relatively understudied, compared to other types of figurative expressions, such as X is Y metaphors (e.g., Her lips are velvet) and similes (e.g., Her lips are like velvet). Experiment 1 revealed that noun-noun metaphors are semantically comparable to X is Y metaphors and similes, in the sense that the figurative meaning stays the same across these three different formats (e.g., participants agree to similar degrees that Lips are velvet, Lips are like velvetand velvet lips all mean that lips are soft). Experiment 2 showed that noun-noun metaphors behave similarly to compound words: In the same way that compound words with semantically opaque heads (e.g., jailbird ) are processed slower than compounds with transparent heads (e.g., strawberry ), noun-noun phrases with metaphorical heads (e.g., relationship patch ) are processed slower than noun-noun phrases with literal heads and metaphorical modifiers (e.g., bandaid solution). Experiment 3 determined that noun-noun metaphors behave similarly to X is Y metaphors: In the same way that X is Y metaphors require the inhibition of irrelevant features (e.g., Some barrels are wooden interferes with the interpretation of Some stomachs are barrels because the former activates irrelevant features of barrel that later need to be suppressed), noun-noun metaphors also involve inhibition (e.g., jean patch interferes with the interpretation of relationship patch because the former activates certain features of patch, such as being made of cloth, that are irrelevant for the proper comprehension of the noun-noun metaphor).
{"title":"Factors that Influence the Processing of Noun-Noun Metaphors","authors":"Juana Park, Faria Sana, Christina L. Gagné, T. Spalding","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1843970","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1843970","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We analyzed the processing of noun-noun metaphors (e.g., velvet lips), which have been relatively understudied, compared to other types of figurative expressions, such as X is Y metaphors (e.g., Her lips are velvet) and similes (e.g., Her lips are like velvet). Experiment 1 revealed that noun-noun metaphors are semantically comparable to X is Y metaphors and similes, in the sense that the figurative meaning stays the same across these three different formats (e.g., participants agree to similar degrees that Lips are velvet, Lips are like velvetand velvet lips all mean that lips are soft). Experiment 2 showed that noun-noun metaphors behave similarly to compound words: In the same way that compound words with semantically opaque heads (e.g., jailbird ) are processed slower than compounds with transparent heads (e.g., strawberry ), noun-noun phrases with metaphorical heads (e.g., relationship patch ) are processed slower than noun-noun phrases with literal heads and metaphorical modifiers (e.g., bandaid solution). Experiment 3 determined that noun-noun metaphors behave similarly to X is Y metaphors: In the same way that X is Y metaphors require the inhibition of irrelevant features (e.g., Some barrels are wooden interferes with the interpretation of Some stomachs are barrels because the former activates irrelevant features of barrel that later need to be suppressed), noun-noun metaphors also involve inhibition (e.g., jean patch interferes with the interpretation of relationship patch because the former activates certain features of patch, such as being made of cloth, that are irrelevant for the proper comprehension of the noun-noun metaphor).","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"36 1","pages":"20 - 44"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1843970","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48596019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1855944
R. Gibbs
ABSTRACT One of the compelling events during the 2020 spring coronavirus pandemic is the extent to which people call-out “irony” in regard to the speech and actions of other individuals, as well as, in some cases, their own behaviors. These frequent call-outs are evidence of the cognitive realization of some discrepancy between prior expectations and unfolding reality, but also reveal people’s communicative efforts to persuade others to adopt a negative view of those individuals who are responsible for the irony. This article explores several examples of irony call-outs in the context of both verbal irony and situational irony in the midst of the pandemic. My analysis suggests that what is considered to be “irony” always depends on the level of analysis from which such judgments are made. Irony may be salient from a personal point of view but non-ironic from a social/cultural perspective, and vice-versa. Our sense that an event is ironic may also change over time. Some call-outs of irony even focus on future “ironic opportunities” that would address different economic, environmental, and social justice challenges. These observations suggest several implications for theory and research on irony.
{"title":"“Holy Cow, My Irony Detector Just Exploded!” Calling Out Irony During The Coronavirus Pandemic","authors":"R. Gibbs","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1855944","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1855944","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT One of the compelling events during the 2020 spring coronavirus pandemic is the extent to which people call-out “irony” in regard to the speech and actions of other individuals, as well as, in some cases, their own behaviors. These frequent call-outs are evidence of the cognitive realization of some discrepancy between prior expectations and unfolding reality, but also reveal people’s communicative efforts to persuade others to adopt a negative view of those individuals who are responsible for the irony. This article explores several examples of irony call-outs in the context of both verbal irony and situational irony in the midst of the pandemic. My analysis suggests that what is considered to be “irony” always depends on the level of analysis from which such judgments are made. Irony may be salient from a personal point of view but non-ironic from a social/cultural perspective, and vice-versa. Our sense that an event is ironic may also change over time. Some call-outs of irony even focus on future “ironic opportunities” that would address different economic, environmental, and social justice challenges. These observations suggest several implications for theory and research on irony.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"36 1","pages":"45 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1855944","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43330827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-01-02DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1845096
Marta Coll-Florit, S. Climent, M. Sanfilippo, Eulàlia Hernández-Encuentra
ABSTRACT This work analyzes the conceptual metaphors of depression in a corpus of 23 blogs written in Catalan by people suffering major depressive disorder. Its main aim was comparative, in order to check whether metaphors detected in previous studies were also used in a new genre and a new language. Their use was confirmed, thus reinforcing the metaphors’ relevance and their conceptual (i.e. non language-dependent) nature. Furthermore, the study broadens the scope of the conceptualization of life with depression with a set of metaphors not attested before, mostly related to social, communicative and medical factors. The results suggest that the containment and constraint that characterize a crucial part of the metaphorical discourse of depression are not only imposed by the disorder itself, but also by contextual factors (such as stigma, lack of communication, or the medical practice perceived as a repressive power) that can have a significant impact on the lives people with depression lead. They also suggest that the very nature of blogging as a genre allows these people to provide more accurate depictions of their condition, thus providing a more comprehensive account of metaphors of life with depression and potentially empowering them.
{"title":"Metaphors of Depression. Studying First Person Accounts of Life with Depression Published in Blogs","authors":"Marta Coll-Florit, S. Climent, M. Sanfilippo, Eulàlia Hernández-Encuentra","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1845096","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1845096","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This work analyzes the conceptual metaphors of depression in a corpus of 23 blogs written in Catalan by people suffering major depressive disorder. Its main aim was comparative, in order to check whether metaphors detected in previous studies were also used in a new genre and a new language. Their use was confirmed, thus reinforcing the metaphors’ relevance and their conceptual (i.e. non language-dependent) nature. Furthermore, the study broadens the scope of the conceptualization of life with depression with a set of metaphors not attested before, mostly related to social, communicative and medical factors. The results suggest that the containment and constraint that characterize a crucial part of the metaphorical discourse of depression are not only imposed by the disorder itself, but also by contextual factors (such as stigma, lack of communication, or the medical practice perceived as a repressive power) that can have a significant impact on the lives people with depression lead. They also suggest that the very nature of blogging as a genre allows these people to provide more accurate depictions of their condition, thus providing a more comprehensive account of metaphors of life with depression and potentially empowering them.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"36 1","pages":"1 - 19"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1845096","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47986574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1820304
Javier Herrero-Ruiz
ABSTRACT In the literature, event metonymies have been used to explain how language users produce and interpret utterances in which certain events are understood in terms of their sub-events or the overall/complex events they are a part of. This paper attempts to discuss some pragmatic effects of event metonymies which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been explored to date. The first section deals with how certain expressions based on SUB-EVENT FOR EVENT metonymies can be considered synonymous for others in real communicative terms. We, therefore, show how a sound theory of synonymy could not only benefit from the incorporation of referential metonymies but also from the inclusion of SUB-EVENT FOR EVENT metonymies. The second section focuses on how EVENT FOR SUB-EVENT mappings have proven useful to achieve certain pragmatic relevance and mitigation/euphemistic contextual effects which have never been described in the literature. In order to do so, we analyzed a collection of more than 60 expressions (obtained from a study with two native speakers of English) to observe how they can qualify as event metonymies.
{"title":"On Some Pragmatic Effects of Event Metonymies","authors":"Javier Herrero-Ruiz","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1820304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1820304","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In the literature, event metonymies have been used to explain how language users produce and interpret utterances in which certain events are understood in terms of their sub-events or the overall/complex events they are a part of. This paper attempts to discuss some pragmatic effects of event metonymies which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been explored to date. The first section deals with how certain expressions based on SUB-EVENT FOR EVENT metonymies can be considered synonymous for others in real communicative terms. We, therefore, show how a sound theory of synonymy could not only benefit from the incorporation of referential metonymies but also from the inclusion of SUB-EVENT FOR EVENT metonymies. The second section focuses on how EVENT FOR SUB-EVENT mappings have proven useful to achieve certain pragmatic relevance and mitigation/euphemistic contextual effects which have never been described in the literature. In order to do so, we analyzed a collection of more than 60 expressions (obtained from a study with two native speakers of English) to observe how they can qualify as event metonymies.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"35 1","pages":"266 - 284"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1820304","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43027416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1809313
M. Kuczok
ABSTRACT Religious symbols are often treated as mysterious, and even magical, links between the visible and the invisible worlds. They also lie in the nature of Christianity: they are present in its language, liturgy, as well as various forms of religious art. On the one hand, taking the cognitive-linguistic standpoint, it can be claimed that religious symbols are metonymical in nature. However, in this paper, we argue that Christian symbols are, in fact, more complex conceptually, as they are often based on metaphtonymy, an interaction between metaphor and metonymy. Thus, in our qualitative study, we analyze selected examples of Christian symbols rooted in the biblical language and related directly or indirectly to the person of Christ in order to present the types of metaphtonymy motivating their meaning. The identified patterns of metaphor-metonymy interaction include metonymical expansion or reduction of either the metaphorical source or target domain. In this way we aim to show that despite the special role ascribed to religious symbols, thanks to the theory of metaphor-metonymy interaction their mysterious nature and complexities of meaning can be successfully untangled.
{"title":"The Interplay of Metaphor and Metonymy in Christian Symbols","authors":"M. Kuczok","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1809313","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1809313","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Religious symbols are often treated as mysterious, and even magical, links between the visible and the invisible worlds. They also lie in the nature of Christianity: they are present in its language, liturgy, as well as various forms of religious art. On the one hand, taking the cognitive-linguistic standpoint, it can be claimed that religious symbols are metonymical in nature. However, in this paper, we argue that Christian symbols are, in fact, more complex conceptually, as they are often based on metaphtonymy, an interaction between metaphor and metonymy. Thus, in our qualitative study, we analyze selected examples of Christian symbols rooted in the biblical language and related directly or indirectly to the person of Christ in order to present the types of metaphtonymy motivating their meaning. The identified patterns of metaphor-metonymy interaction include metonymical expansion or reduction of either the metaphorical source or target domain. In this way we aim to show that despite the special role ascribed to religious symbols, thanks to the theory of metaphor-metonymy interaction their mysterious nature and complexities of meaning can be successfully untangled.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"35 1","pages":"236 - 249"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1809313","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43817336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1813035
Jieqiong Huang
In the book Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Zoltan Kovecses presents a holistic view of how conceptual and contextual factors influence metaphor production and comprehension, with a comprehens...
{"title":"Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory","authors":"Jieqiong Huang","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1813035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1813035","url":null,"abstract":"In the book Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Zoltan Kovecses presents a holistic view of how conceptual and contextual factors influence metaphor production and comprehension, with a comprehens...","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"35 1","pages":"302 - 305"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1813035","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41987514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1810577
Greggor Mattson
ABSTRACT Conceptual metaphor theory implies that ubiquitous metaphors become mere descriptions or concepts if they are not embedded in competing discursive communities. This paper demonstrates that weaponiz- retained its meaningfulness after becoming ubiquitous despite being used by all sides in contemporary contentious politics. Because metaphors derive their figurativeness through tension, weaponiz- shows that temporality, or social time, can be marshaled to contrast an unpleasant “now” with a better “past.” This metaphoricity stands in contrast to the word’s conceptual origins in the Cold War defense industry as a literal description of the logistical deployment of weapons systems. As the word’s use mutated into a metaphor around 2003, it took on its contemporary moral meaning of over-politicizing things that had been, and should remain, neutral or peaceful. By 2017 “the weaponization of everything” implied that all aspects of social life were newly embroiled in illegitimate politics, making the metaphor a profound act of nostalgia that erased even recent conflicts. This paper thus adds temporal rhetorical tension as one of the ways that metaphors can retain meaningfulness through a case study of a metaphor that arose only recently, demonstrating the usefulness of diachronic analyses of novel metaphor emergence.
{"title":"Weaponization: Ubiquity and Metaphorical Meaningfulness","authors":"Greggor Mattson","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1810577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1810577","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Conceptual metaphor theory implies that ubiquitous metaphors become mere descriptions or concepts if they are not embedded in competing discursive communities. This paper demonstrates that weaponiz- retained its meaningfulness after becoming ubiquitous despite being used by all sides in contemporary contentious politics. Because metaphors derive their figurativeness through tension, weaponiz- shows that temporality, or social time, can be marshaled to contrast an unpleasant “now” with a better “past.” This metaphoricity stands in contrast to the word’s conceptual origins in the Cold War defense industry as a literal description of the logistical deployment of weapons systems. As the word’s use mutated into a metaphor around 2003, it took on its contemporary moral meaning of over-politicizing things that had been, and should remain, neutral or peaceful. By 2017 “the weaponization of everything” implied that all aspects of social life were newly embroiled in illegitimate politics, making the metaphor a profound act of nostalgia that erased even recent conflicts. This paper thus adds temporal rhetorical tension as one of the ways that metaphors can retain meaningfulness through a case study of a metaphor that arose only recently, demonstrating the usefulness of diachronic analyses of novel metaphor emergence.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"35 1","pages":"250 - 265"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1810577","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46592962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-10-01DOI: 10.1080/10926488.2020.1802205
Huei-ling Lai
ABSTRACT This study investigated the interconnected relationship between playful metaphors and sex jokes at the linguistic, conceptual, and discourse levels. Two ontological conceptual metaphors and two specific-level metaphors emerged. They demonstrated that variations in the form of empty metaphors and the creative invention of metaphors are still fundamentally iconic. The conceptual representation of sex acts is closely related to the cultural and ethnic specificity embedded in folk knowledge, such as food culture, the broader context of the physical environment and historical traditions, and the conception of family relationships. Metaphors in sex stories showed that the shared values of Hakka people have pragmatic and socio-cultural implications. Seen as an in-between other by their blood family and their in-laws’ family, Hakka women are under dual strict cultural disciplines for their expected behaviors as women and for their expected roles as daughters-in-law. Metaphors in sex jokes serve as covert and humorous carriers to get around the uneasiness of socially tabooed and embarrassing topics regarding Hakka women and at the same time maintain relational and social harmony.
{"title":"Playful Metaphors in Sex Jokes and Socio-Cultural Implications","authors":"Huei-ling Lai","doi":"10.1080/10926488.2020.1802205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2020.1802205","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study investigated the interconnected relationship between playful metaphors and sex jokes at the linguistic, conceptual, and discourse levels. Two ontological conceptual metaphors and two specific-level metaphors emerged. They demonstrated that variations in the form of empty metaphors and the creative invention of metaphors are still fundamentally iconic. The conceptual representation of sex acts is closely related to the cultural and ethnic specificity embedded in folk knowledge, such as food culture, the broader context of the physical environment and historical traditions, and the conception of family relationships. Metaphors in sex stories showed that the shared values of Hakka people have pragmatic and socio-cultural implications. Seen as an in-between other by their blood family and their in-laws’ family, Hakka women are under dual strict cultural disciplines for their expected behaviors as women and for their expected roles as daughters-in-law. Metaphors in sex jokes serve as covert and humorous carriers to get around the uneasiness of socially tabooed and embarrassing topics regarding Hakka women and at the same time maintain relational and social harmony.","PeriodicalId":46492,"journal":{"name":"Metaphor and Symbol","volume":"35 1","pages":"221 - 235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10926488.2020.1802205","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47183854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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