Means of Multimodal Impact of Cognitive Metaphors in Cinema Discourse

Abstract

The paper deals with semantic and cognitive analysis of modes in building sense effects as the means of multimodal impact on the cinema discourse addressee. A short story of the research study of the cinema discourse is given. A brief overview of the cinema discourse components, its ontological features and basic modes is presented, as well as the theoretical rationale of cognitive metaphor research approach. The study is undertaken on the material of the film ''They Live'' (1988) directed by John Carpenter. The possibility of domineering of visual and cognitive means for metaphor creation in cinema discourse is observed and proved, as well as of the images’ creation on their basis, without the text component of this discourse type being more functionally dominant. The following cognitive metaphor modes are studied: the film text (written), visual elements and colour in the opposition to a black-and-white scheme. The simplicity of the chosen discourse means is underlined, as well as its pragmatic purpose: the message of the film was intended to be easily understood by any addressee, with practically any informational background. Association chains developing in the process of cognitive metaphors’ interpretation are presented, as well as their link with the development of the film images. The multilayer characteristics of the film metaphors are demonstrated. The objects of the paper’s study are understood as the main pictorial and cognitive constituents in the film’s system of images and cognitive metaphors to convey the film messages. It is shown that the development of cognitive metaphors in the discourse dynamics can create an informational and imagery system making the basic sense of a film’s impact on the addressee. The perspective of further research is seen in the application of the suggested methodology to the study of other objects of the cinema discourse.