Use Of Metaphors Research Articles

The Politics of Identity Markers: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Pakistani English Newspapers

This study looked at how politicians come about with their political identities using identity markers to communicate their ideology(s) and ideas in political discourse. This study attempted to examine such identifying markers employed by Imran Khan (PTI), Fazal-ur-Rehman (JUI-F), Nawaz Sharif (PML-N), and Bilawal Bhutto (PPP) in Dawn and The Express Tribune news between 2018 and 2023. Data was obtained from the sites of a number of newspapers using a qualitative research method, using Fairclough's 3D model. Important markers of identification were phrases such as youth, corruption, accountability, and Naya Pakistan (new Pakistan), as well as cultural symbols, like flags and turbans. The ongoing use of pronouns, metaphors, and authoritative language by politicians helped to make societal topics such as power dynamics, corruption, and development lively. It is found that Fairclough's approach to the analysis of political identity markers can be put to good use.

Exploring the Metaphorical Use of TEMPERATURE Domain in Character Descriptions in Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

This study investigates the metaphorical use of the TEMPERATURE domain in character descriptions within Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series, adopting the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory. Despite extensive scholarly attention to the series from literary and cultural studies perspectives, there is a notable gap in cognitive linguistic analysis. Concerning the TEMPERATURE domain, though it is essential to human experience and metaphorically rich in daily thought and language, there has been limited research on the role of this domain in literary discourse. To fill these research gaps, this study adopted the mixed-methods approach, combining (1) content analysis to examine the relationship between the TEMPERATURE domain, specifically WARMTH and COLDNESS domains, and character types and (2) thematic analysis to explore how these domains describe good and evil characters throughout the series. The findings reveal that both WARMTH and COLDNESS domains are used to describe good and evil characters, with no distinctive domain exclusive to each character type. This challenges the conventional association of warmth with goodness and coldness with evil. Such complexity can be attributed to the deceitful nature of evil characters and the emotional detachment of virtuous characters for the greater good, as demonstrated in the novel series. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the creative use of temperature-related metaphors in literature, offering insights into their role in character construction and thematic development.

“Jia you (Add oil, let’s go!)”: A Speech’s Critical Discourse Analysis on the Use of Metaphors to Empower the Asian Community Against Hate Amid Covid-19

Following Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, this paper presents a critical discourse analysis of the speech “We are GOLDEN” delivered at a Stop Asian Hate rally held in the U.S. in 2021.The analysis focuses on the use of adjectives and metaphors at the text, discursive practice and social practice levels, which demonstrate the speaker’s strong criticism and opposition to violence, systemic racism, hegemony, and the power of white supremacy that became evermore present amid COVID-19. The results unveil the use of cultural and historical intertextuality from a resilient perspective to empower the Asian American and Pacific Islander community to promote social change and stand against hate.

Culture as Nature

Metaphors are widely employed in academia and beyond to render complex concepts more accessible. This paper investigates the use of metaphors drawn from nature to approach culture and culture contact in the ancient Mediterranean, focusing on examples evoking the three fundamental states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. Although the Mediterranean is celebrated as ‘the mother of all metaphors’, this has not attracted any systematic analysis, nor has it been problematized. States of matter metaphors are widely used in the study of Mediterranean antiquity and can be shown to be more than figures of speech or heuristics; they convey particular modes of conceptualizing culture which depend on a range of empirical and theoretical approaches developed across the humanities and social sciences, including some that are outdated and that fail to capture the complexity of culture. My critical examination of such metaphorical thinking covers a heterogenous body of material that has become interwoven through selective and messy exchanges of ideas across different disciplines and between disciplines and popular culture. In such exchanges, the pedigree and conceptual load of associated terms is often forgotten or neglected. My aim is to identify the main threads and investigate how shifts in the use of states of matter metaphors for Mediterranean culture and culture contact relate to broader shifts in approaches to the topic. The exercise reveals how states of matter metaphors are also applied to different phases of the historiography of the ancient Mediterranean, as well as to the periodization of modernity. Liquid metaphors are found to predominate, solid ones are often employed only to be dismissed and gaseous ones are rarely attested. In some cases, the shift from one set of metaphors to another can be shown to relate to broader changes in theoretical approaches.

SUFFERING IN EMILY DICKINSON’S SELECTED POEMS

This research examines the theme of suffering in Emily Dickinson’s selected poems, focusing on her unique poetic approach and the profound emotional resonance her work evokes. Emily Dickinson, a pivotal figure in 19th-century American literature, frequently explored themes of death, pain, and existential questions. Despite her reclusive life, her poetry is rich with personal imagery and symbols, reflecting her deep preoccupation with mortality and the human condition. The study utilizes a structural analytical approach, combining library research with descriptive qualitative analysis. This method involves a thorough examination of relevant literary critiques and an in-depth textual analysis of Dickinson’s poems. The aim is to uncover how Dickinson’s portrayal of suffering contributes to a deeper understanding of human experience. Findings indicate that Dickinson’s treatment of suffering is multifaceted, often depicting pain as a necessary aspect of the human soul's development and a precursor to joy and peace. Her poems suggest that pain and suffering are integral to personal growth and resilience. Dickinson’s ability to articulate the complexities of suffering through her innovative use of language and metaphor makes her work both timeless and universally relatable. Overall, Emily Dickinson’s exploration of suffering provides a profound insight into the human experience, highlighting the interconnectedness of pain, joy, and personal growth. Her poetry remains a significant contribution to American literature, offering a nuanced perspective on the inevitability of suffering and its role in shaping the human soul.

“The illuminating quiet”: a metaphor analysis of autobiographical descriptions of inner speech in aphasia

ABSTRACT Background Inner speech in aphasia is a rapidly expanding research area, but can be defined in numerous ways. Unlike behaviourally observable language processes such as overt word-production, inner speech is only directly available to introspection. Subjective experience thus grounds our understanding of inner speech and is a necessary starting point for investigating its definition. Descriptions of inner speech written by people with aphasia can make an important contribution to conceptual clarity in the literature. This important data source has not been systematically analysed. Our research addresses this gap. Aims This research aims to understand the subjective experience of impaired and preserved inner speech in aphasia, through analysis of the metaphors used in autobiographical accounts, and to interpret the findings in relation to the inner speech literature. Methods & Procedures This study carries out a metaphor-led discourse analysis of descriptions of inner speech in four autobiographical accounts of aphasia. Metaphorical expressions describing language processing were identified and coded, then systematic metaphors (i.e. the related concepts which are used consistently to describe a particular topic) were described. The metaphors used to describe inner speech were then analysed, with attention to patterns of use and contextual information. Results & Discussion 338 expressions made use of the main systematic metaphors which were used to describe inner speech. Two types of inner speech- Phonological Inner Speech and Dialogic Inner Speech – were described as distinct and dissociable experiences, and were described using different metaphors. Phonological Inner Speech, the internal activation of phonological representations, as used in mental repetition of a word or phrase, was described by two authors using the metaphors WORDS AS OBJECTS, MIND AS CONTAINER and INNER SPEECH AS HEARING WORDS. Dialogic Inner Speech, the use or awareness of linguistic inner reasoning or dialogue, was described by two different authors using the metaphors INNER SPEECH AS INNER VOICES/PERSONS/MONOLOGUE/DIALOGUE and APHASIA AS SILENCE/FLUID/SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. A double dissociation of these different definitions of inner speech is seen across two of the accounts. Different impacts on language processing and cognition were also described. Conclusions This research demonstrates that subjective accounts of inner speech can help clarify theoretical discussions and clinical implications. Although recent research within aphasiology has focused mainly on Phonological Inner Speech, we show that in these accounts the impairment of Dialogic Inner Speech was described as more salient and more explicitly as a “lack of inner voices”.

Metaphorical markers of pain catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, and pain interference in people with chronic pain

Metaphor to communicate chronic pain can reflect psychological appraisals of pain, and its impact, and may be beneficial in enhancing understanding of pain, its aetiology, and shared decision-making. This cross-sectional study examined metaphor use and relationships with pain intensity, pain interference, mood, and pain catastrophizing. Seventy participants with chronic pain completed measures of depression, anxiety and stress, the Brief Pain Inventory, and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. They provided descriptions of their pain through metaphor and a primary condition related to their pain. Pain catastrophizing significantly predicted frequency of metaphor use (R2=.07, F(1, 62)=4.55, p=.041). More frequent use of metaphor was correlated with pain catastrophizing (r=.29, p=.03), rumination (r=.26, p=.05), magnification (r=.28, p=.03), helplessness (r=.28, p=.04), depression (r=.30, p=.02), and pain interference (r=.30, p=.02). Metaphors relating pain to physical damage were significantly associated with anxiety (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.03-1.35, p =.02) and magnification (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.05-1.57, p=.02). Metaphors referring to pain as caused by an external agent were significantly associated with depression (OR 1.11, 95% CI 1.01-1.23, p=.04) and pain duration (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.00-1.11, p=.04). The findings indicate that there may be specific metaphorical markers of psychological and pain-related outcomes in the language used by people with chronic pain. Appreciation of metaphor may facilitate enhanced patient-provider communication and support for people with chronic pain. PerspectivePeople with chronic pain can use metaphorical expressions to communicate their experiences. This study found that pain interference, depression, anxiety, and pain catastrophizing are reflected in metaphor use by people with chronic pain. In particular, pain catastrophizing was significantly predictive of more frequent metaphor use, demonstrating the reflection of pain catastrophizing in language.

“Our earth, it's like it's in a toaster”: Creative, figurative and narrative interactions in interviews with lower secondary school students about climate activism

Previous studies have identified the use of metaphor and metonymy in contexts of youth-led climate protests and social media activism. In this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews to investigate how secondary school students in England make sense of different creative uses of metaphor and metonymy in a sample of slogans shared on social media for the Global Climate Strikes and #FridaysForFuture. For analysing students' responses, we produced a coding scheme to unpack the relationship between figurative interpretation and narrative. The findings suggest that different creative uses (e.g. twice-true, juxtaposition and personification) prompted different kinds of thinking about climate change and its relevance to students’ personal lives. The study has implications for research on figurative creativity, narrative, and climate change education.

Not for those of us who know war well: crisis, metaphor negotiation and collective memory in an era of war

ABSTRACT The use of war metaphors in COVID–19 crisis communication has prompted great metalinguistic attention and highlighted the role of conflict memory in crisis discourse. Still, discourses of collective memory are to date rarely integrated with the study of metaphor and crisis communication, though frequently observed in crisis metaphor analyses in post–conflict contexts. This study focuses on the relations between the war metaphor and war memory as seen specifically in post–conflict settings. Set across three post–Yugoslav states, it starts from an examination of WAR metaphor use and its relations to war memory discourses in early pandemic political leaders' announcements, and citizen responses to these. Second, it zooms in on the patterns of metaphor negotiation and contestation in citizen discourses in particular. The findings show how the early pandemic discourse drew on heavily militarized metaphoricity, which revived nationalist images of the country's violent breakup in the 1990s but also gave rise to ample contestation in public space, revealing differing positionings in politicians' and citizens' discourses. The analysis allows a discussion of some implications pertaining to the relations of metaphor, collective memory and crisis communication, as well as the increasingly laden affective potentials of war and history in times when ‘war is never far away’.

Effects of metaphorical communication on vaccine confidence in the adolescent population

Abstract Vaccine hesitancy, defined as delay or refusal of vaccination despite the availability of vaccination services, has been included by WHO among the top 10 global health threats. Individual decision-making process can be strongly affected by communication. The use of metaphors is common in public health communication and increased during the COVID19 pandemic. Although some evidence has supported the persuasive potential of metaphorical language over scientific language, further research is needed. Our study aimed at comparing the effects of neutral scientific talk with war and protective metaphors on health communication. An online survey was conducted on a convenience sample of Italian teenagers randomly allocated to three study arms. Each participant was invited to watch a specific version of an informative video on infections and vaccines (group 1: neutral-scientific approach, group 2: metaphorical-war, and group 3: metaphorical-protective approach). After watching the video, each participant responded to an ad-hoc questionnaire. A total of 2681 subjects were randomly allocated to the three groups. No significant differences regarding age, sex and geographical area were detected between groups. Median age of the sample was 17 years (mean 16,8) and 56.8% were girls. The general attitude towards vaccination in group 2 and 3 was largely positive, with the majority agreeing (strongly or tend to agree) on the fact that vaccination is important (group 2: 89%; group 3: 92%), safe (group 2: 91%; group 3: 92,5%), effective (group 2: 85%; group 3: 88%), and does not generate anxiety (group 2: 80%; group 3: 83%). Higher level of distrust against vaccines was found in group 1, where 32% of participating adolescents are strongly or tend to be anxious about getting vaccinated. The results of our survey suggest that emotional involvement evoked through the use of metaphorical language may have, at least in the short run, some positive effect on vaccine confidence. Key messages • Use of metaphors can be successfully used in public health communication. • Messages evoking either war or protecting concepts are more efficacious than plain scientific language.

Affective Engagement with Metaphor in Introductory Statistics Education

Metaphor is a popular pedagogical tool to help learners understand unfamiliar concepts, but its affective and interactional qualities remain underexplored compared to its cognitive benefits. This study investigates how metaphor may enhance affective engagement within introductory statistics education for linguistics students. As previous research tends to rely on delayed and self-reported data, this study employs a mixed-methods approach that combines real-time physiological measures of engagement with feedback through surveys and interviews. It compares metaphorical and literal instructional styles for teaching simple linear regression, focusing on: i) differences in teacher and learner skin conductance levels, ii) teacher-learner synchrony through skin conductance concordance, iii) the relationship between physiological measures and affect-related survey responses, and iv) learner reflections on their experiences. Results show that the metaphorical style is associated with higher engagement levels and stronger teacher-learner synchrony, affirming the role of metaphors in enhancing collaborative learning when elaborated over time in spontaneous interactive fashion. However, the qualitative data reveal nuanced learner perceptions, highlighting the importance of clearly communicating the scope of metaphor use. This study contributes to understanding the interplay between affective and cognitive engagement in metaphorical learning, offering practical recommendations for its effective implementation in complex subjects like statistics.

This confused music

ABSTRACT This essay explores Proust's use of Vinteuil as a way to consider the relationship between artistic genius and perceived eccentricity. Vinteuil is presented both a ‘foolish old man’ and a composer of genius, thus staging a tension between the contingent and absolute nature of art. Proust's metaphorical use of music becomes a model for the creative process, where the ‘confused music’ of inspiration must be translated into coherent expression. Yet, Proust's treatment of Vinteuil and his musical analogies point to the mysteries and disturbances inherent in art.

Cultural Analysis of Female Cross-Gender Expression in Social Networks: A Case Study of Image Presentation in Douyin Short Videosv

With the continuous development of the internet and the growing awareness of women's social consciousness, the forms of self-expression by women on digital platforms have become increasingly diverse. Among these, female cross-gender performance has emerged as a key strategy of self-presentation in social networks. This paper analyzes two distinct expression strategies on the Douyin short video platform to explore and critically reflect on current female cross-gender expressions. The explicit expression strategy employs makeup, cross-dressing, and role-playing to simulate male personas, challenging traditional gender stereotypes. The implicit expression strategy, on the other hand, mocks male “ bad habits ” through the imitation of male behaviors and the use of symbolic metaphors, carrying a satirical undertone. However, these strategies have their limitations: male images are often idealized and trivialized, reinforcing gender norms; and constrained by patriarchal frameworks, they fail to genuinely subvert gender roles and the gender binary. As a result, while female cross-gender expression challenges gender stereotypes, it also faces risks of being disciplined and misinterpreted.

A Study of Chinese Translation of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language from the Perspective of Grammatical Metaphor

In Systemic Functional Linguistics, grammatical metaphor is categorized into ideational and interpersonal types. Translation, as a process of code-switching, involves choosing between congruent and metaphorical forms, each serving different communicative purposes. Distinguishing these forms clarifies their distinct functions. This paper explores the use and importance of grammatical metaphors in translating The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language based on the author’s independent translation practice. Given this, the study achieves three objectives through quantitative and qualitative analysis: (1) examining the distribution of grammatical metaphors in the translation of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language; (2) exploring the reasons behind their emergence; and (3) analyzing the role these metaphors play in the translation. Translation strategies were classified into two types based on the retention of grammatical metaphors: congruent translation, which simplifies the text and reduces metaphors, and metaphorical translation, which sustains a formal, academic, and concise style. The study reveals that the same translation techniques can be applied across various word, sentence, and text types, with different contexts requiring different methods even for identical grammatical and semantic units. Regardless of whether metaphors are retained, it is essential to ensure faithfulness, fluency, and aesthetics of the translation. Translators should avoid rigid application and decide on metaphor preservation based on the specific context and text type to best convey the original meaning.

Metaphor as an Ideological-Conveying Process in Panegyrics: The Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ Ethnic Groups of Yorùbá in Perspective

Panegyrics, as a genre of oral literature, play a significant role in the social, historical and political systems of the Yorùbá people. Through the recitation of praise songs, panegyric reciters often seek to create awareness about the hegemonic status of the individuals or entities being praised. However, the ideologies expressed through the use of metaphor in these panegyrics are usually subtle and covert, thereby enabling the subtle manipulation of the praised individual(s). To uncover the subtle ways metaphors are constructed in panegyrics to serve various purposes, including the maintenance of unequal power relations, this paper examines the use of metaphor as a strategic linguistic device for conveying ideological messages in the panegyrics of the Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ ethnic groups within the broader Yorùbá cultural context. It therefore evaluates how metaphor is employed in Yorùbá panegyrics to communicate ideological content in Ifẹ̀ and Ò̩yó̩ panegyrics. By shedding light on the covert ways metaphors are constructed in the panegyrics, the paper offers insights into how language can be strategically employed to maintain and perpetuate unequal power structures within a society. It also highlights the versatility of metaphor as a rhetorical device, capable of conveying complex ideological messages in a subtle and aesthetically pleasing manner, as evident in the Yorùbá panegyric genre. Keywords: Metaphor, Discourse, Critical Discourse Analysis, Ideology and Panegyrics

London in the Novels by Robert Galbraith: a text-world perspective

The Strike series of contemporary crime fiction novels by Robert Galbraith exhibits an abundance of descriptions of real-life London. The aim of this article is to explore their functions in the context of the author’s works. Characteristic properties of the cityscapes in the novels are the merged perspectives of the omniscient narrator and a character, foregrounded details, contrasts in images and attitudes, and the use of metaphor and personification. Text World Theory allows us to explain how they aid in constructing mental representations, or text-worlds, of the city and examine functions fulfilled by the depictions of London in R. Galbraith’s fiction: (1) emphasising connectedness between the discourse- and text-worlds, (2) creating an atmospheric background, (3) broadening readers’ understanding of characters, (4) making London a character in its own right, (5) advancing the story. The first function is typical of all the text-worlds analysed; it indicates the real-world nature of fictional information as a distinctive feature of the Strike series.

Embodiment Consciousness in Music Performance Pedagogy

The acquisition of expertise in music performance and its pedagogy, depends on, beyond specific musical skills, employing resources from other fields of knowledge and considering sensory, motor, and affective capacities at each step of the music learning process. We studied the teaching practices of three expert clarinet teachers to investigate their didactic procedures, evaluating how those practices could be related to their students’ high levels of performance. The method gathered data from a “protocol joint analysis” and semi-structured interviews with teachers and their students. Data analysis revealed a particular set of pedagogical skills observed in the didactic procedures of these expert teachers. These teaching strategies were common to all three case studies and revealed themselves as a last didactic resource to overcome complex problems at the highest level of proficiency in musical interpretation. We call that pedagogical expertise field Embodiment Consciousness in Music Performance. This field of competence describes the systematic didactic use of metaphor to access performers’ sensorimotor and affective memories, whose semantic contents can thereby be accessed to support performance actions.

"Each person's experience, each person's needs": How therapists open space for multiple perspectives during reflecting team family therapy supervision.

Tom Andersen's reflecting team approach invited family members to hear the dialogues between professionals in response to their stories. This study aimed to explore intersubjective reflexivity during reflecting team group supervision, by observing resonances between group members. Twelve hours of reflecting team group supervision was transcribed and analyzed using Systemic Functional Linguistics. Hallidayan transitivity analysis of selected sections of interaction focused on mental processes, and Martin and White's appraisal framework was used to explore the "engagement" between different voices at play in the conversations. We found the use of physical metaphor to express reflective experiences, multi-voiced expressions to expand perspectives and possibilities, and dialogical patterns of relating between group therapy participants. Understanding dialogism from a linguistic perspective may offer insights into how reflective dialogues work and support understanding of fidelity for approaches which engage reflecting teams.

The Ambiguity of Metaphor: How Polysemy Affords Multivalent Metaphor Use and Explains the Paradox of Metaphor

ABSTRACT This paper explores the suggestion (Steen, 2023a, 2023b) that most metaphor may be structurally ambiguous between deliberate and non-deliberate meanings, which in turn affords multivalent metaphor use. The paper begins by examining a sample of 56 Metaphor-Related Words in 25 examples of language use from corpus research about metaphor in discourse about cancer and the end of life (Semino et al., 2018). These data are analyzed by means of a new method proposed by Deliberate Metaphor Theory (Steen, 2023a; cf.; Reijnierse et al. 2019). Results show that all metaphors in the sample that are both polysemous and conventional can be given two interpretations, one non-deliberate and one deliberate. This ambiguity is largely corroborated by additional analysis of these same data by Wmatrix. Subsequent inclusion of all other cases from the same chapter in Semino et al. (2018) offers additional support. This finding offers a critical perspective on the idea that metaphor is a strong psychological device for figurative framing in discourse, for the structural ambiguity of most metaphor allows for multivalent metaphor use, where, in fact, most metaphor may typically be comprehended non-metaphorically (Steen, 2008, 2023a, 2023b). The ambiguity of metaphor hence also explains the paradox of metaphor.

Lego Serious Play in Psychology: Exploring Its Use in Qualitative Interviews

ABSTRACT Lego Serious Play (LSP) developed in corporate settings to encourage collaboration, problem-solving, and drive creativity. As a creative research method, LSP is relatively under-researched. The constructive ‘build, share, listen’ process of LSP has considerable potential to promote reflection and elicit talk in phenomenological research interviews. We draw on our experiences using LSP in interviews to explore the meaning of happiness with five young adults in Hong Kong, who had moved back to their parental home. We explain our approach and discuss the potential benefits, limitations and considerations when using LSP to enhance individual interviews. It is a participant-led approach, which reduces anxiety, enables ‘flow,’ self-expression and reflection, access to tacit knowledge, use of metaphor and symbolism. Considerations and limitations include the time burden, aspects of our approach which were more researcher- than participant-led, potential improvements to enhance data generation and ethical reflections on the cathartic nature of the LSP-supported interviews.