Primary Metaphors and Multimodal Metaphors of Food: Examples from an Intercultural Food Design Event

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe conceptual metaphor “THOUGHT IS FOOD” is exemplified in many verbal expressions. Nevertheless, how food metaphors are realized through the actual dining experience remains unexplored. Based on a food design event called EATAIPEI that took place in the London Design Festival in 2015, one aimed at promoting Taipei as World Design Capital 2016, this article analyzes how the multimodal metaphors of food were creatively represented and elaborated within it. This study proposes an analytical framework that combines insights from cognitive linguistics with an intercultural performative view of food presentation and food metaphor. More specifically, it treats complex metaphors as resulting from the interactions of primary metaphors, proposition schemas and intercultural performance (i.e., adapting shared or culture-specific knowledge about food to international audiences). The multimodal metaphors of food are complex metaphors composed of combined sets of primary metaphors, enriched by schema propositions and embedded within food performance (e.g., transformation of traditional foods, display tools or stands on the table, and the eating experience itself). The experience of eating in the event reactivates the sensorimotor experiences that underpin the complex metaphors.