scholarly journals Using Metaphor to Find Meaning in Life

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark J. Landau
Keyword(s):  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Concrete Concepts ◽  
Over Time

Pursuing meaning in life confronts the individual with abstract ideas about the connections between experiences and identities over time ( continuity), the ends that life serves ( purpose), and its worth ( value). Conceptual metaphor theory is helpful to explain the cognitive strategies people use to understand these ideas. This theory posits that metaphor is a cognitive tool for understanding abstractions in terms of superficially dissimilar, relatively more concrete concepts. Early empirical tests of this claim focused on how activated metaphors influence judgments of other people, events, and social issues. Going further, an emerging area of research examines metaphor's roles in perceptions of life's continuity, purpose, and value. This article provides the first overview of this development. Specific aims are to organize previous findings, identify questions for future research, and discuss theoretical implications for the meaning of meaning.

Metaphor Research and the Hebrew Bible

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-285
Author(s):  
Mason D. Lancaster
Keyword(s):  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Recent Developments

This article provides an overview of metaphor theories and research on their own terms, as well as their use in Hebrew Bible (HB) studies. Though metaphor studies in the HB have become increasingly popular, they often draw upon a limited or dated subset of metaphor scholarship. The first half of this article surveys a wide variety of metaphor scholarship from the humanities (philosophical, poetic, rhetorical) and the sciences (e.g., conceptual metaphor theory), beginning with Aristotle but focusing on more recent developments. The second half overviews studies of metaphor in the HB since 1980, surveying works focused on theory and method; works focused on specific biblical books or metaphor domains; and finally noting current trends and suggesting areas for future research.

scholarly journals Change in Metaphorical Framing: Metaphors of TRade in 225 Years of State of the Union Addresses (1790–2014)

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Burgers ◽  
Kathleen Ahrens
Keyword(s):  
Relative Frequency ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
State Of The Union ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Diachronic Analysis ◽  
Types Of Change ◽  
Over Time

AbstractThe literature provides diverging perspectives on the universality and stability of economic metaphors over time. This article contains a diachronic analysis of economic metaphors describing trade in a corpus of 225 years of US State of the Union addresses (1790–2014). We focused on two types of change: (i) replacement of a source domain by another domain and (ii) change in mapping within a source domain. In our corpus, five source domains of trade were predominant: (i) PhysicalObject, (ii) Building, (iii) Container, (iv) Journey, and (v) LivingBeing. Only the relative frequency of the Container source domain was related to time. Additionally, mappings between source and target domains were mostly stable. Nevertheless, our analyses suggest that the Trade metaphors in our corpus are related to concreteness in a more nuanced way as typically assumed in conceptual metaphor theory: metaphors high in the concreteness dimension of physicality and low in the concreteness dimension of specificity are likeliest to be used over longer time periods, by providing communicators with freedom to adjust the metaphor to changing societal circumstances.

Influence of Multimedia and Cognitive Strategies in Deep and Surface Verbal Processing

2020 ◽  
pp. 162-183
Author(s):  
Robert Z. Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Text Comprehension ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Verbal Processing ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Deep And Surface Learning ◽  
The Individual

The traditional view of linguistic-verbal intelligences focuses on individual linguistic abilities at the levels of phonology, syntax, and semantics. This chapter discusses the individual linguistic abilities from a text-comprehension perspective. The chapter examines the roles of multimedia and cognitive prompts in deep and surface verbal processing. Drawn from research in working memory, multimedia learning, and deep processing, a theoretical framework is proposed to promote learners' deep and surface learning in reading. Evidence from empirical studies are reviewed to support the underlying theoretical assumptions of the framework. The theoretical and practical significance of the theoretical framework is discussed with suggestions for future research.

Economic Shifts and Cultural Changes in Individualism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuji Ogihara
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
National Level ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Temporal Perspective ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

This chapter discusses the relationship between economic affluence and individualism from a cross-temporal perspective. Previous research has indicated that wealth and individualism are positively correlated at both the individual and the national level. This chapter discusses whether this relationship is also found at the temporal level. This chapter consists of three parts. First, a theory about the association between economic affluence and individualism is summarized. Second, the chapter introduces empirical evidence on temporal changes in individualism and their relationship with economic development in three cultures (United States, Japan, China). These studies indicated that the three cultures have shifted toward greater individualism over time. Moreover, these changes in individualism were positively linked to increases in economic affluence at the annual level. Third, the chapter is summarized and directions for future research are raised. Overall, this chapter discusses how socioecological factors and human psychologies/behaviors are associated particularly from a cross-temporal perspective.

Metaphorical conceptualization of emotion in Spanish

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florencia Reali ◽  
Catalina Arciniegas
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Structure ◽  
The Body ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Bounded Space ◽  
Concrete Concepts

Over the last two decades, accumulating work in cognitive science and cognitive linguistics has provided evidence that language shapes thought. Conceptual metaphor theory proposes that the conceptual structure of emotions emerges through metaphorization from concrete concepts such as spatial orientation and physical containment. Primary metaphors for emotions have been described in a wide range of languages. Here we show, in Study 1, the results of a corpus analysis revealing that certain metaphors such as EMOTIONS ARE FLUIDS and EMOTIONS ARE BOUNDED SPACEs are quite natural in Spanish. Moreover, the corpus data reveal that the bounded space source domain is more frequently mapped onto negative emotions. In Study 2, we consider the question of whether the instantiation of metaphorical framing influences the way we think about emotions. A questionnaire experiment was conducted to explore this question, focusing on the Spanish case of locura (‘madness’). Our results show that when madness was framed as a fluid filling a container (the body), people tended to rate symptoms as less enduring and as more likely to be caused by social and environmental factors, compared with when it was framed as a place in space. Results are discussed in the light of conceptual metaphor theory.

The individual in the scientific study of literature

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond W. Gibbs
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Study ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Individual Character ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Literary Experience ◽  
Proper Analysis ◽  
Unique Individual

The scientific study of literature raises a number of critical issues on the best methods to explore how people create, interpreted and are affected by literature and other media. One approach that is widely employed in psychology is to assess the behaviors of groups of individuals in some task, and from there infer underlying cognitive structures and processes that are the likely causal basis for the observed literary behaviors. Adopting this approach allows scholars to make broad scientific generalizations about the ways that people, most generally, interact with literature. But many scientific methods fail to account for individual differences in literary interactions, and as importantly, the unique individual character of literary experience. I explore this concern in the context of some of my own previous work on conceptual metaphor theory in reading poetry, and advocate a scientific approach to literary experience, based on dynamical, self-organizational theory, that may provide the conceptual tools for proper analysis of the individual in the scientific study of literature.

scholarly journals The Effect of Valenced Facial Expressions on Vertical Selective Attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Marie-Louise Beintmann
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Positive Valence

<p>Research using mood induction (Wapner, Werner & Krus, 1957) or positive/negative word stimuli, (Meier & Robinson, 2004) as well as studies using participants pre-existing neurotic/depressive symptoms (Meier & Robinson, 2006) have documented the ability of emotional stimuli and states to shift attention upwards (positive emotion) or downwards (negative emotion) in space. This study aimed to investigate whether this impact of emotion on vertical attention extended to briefly presented facial expressions. A within-subjects, modified version of Meier and Robinson’s (2004) Study 2 formed the design for these experiments. Experiments 1- 4 tested the ability of arrows, shapes and emotional facial expressions to shift vertical attention. Results indicate that for both schematic (Exp.2) and real (Exp. 4) faces, positive valence (happy expression) shifted attention upwards, but there was no evidence of the negative valence (sad expression) shifting attention downwards, giving partial support to the conceptual metaphor theory. No evidence of positive valence broadening - or negative valence narrowing - vertical attention was found in support of Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory (Exps.2 & 4). The current research has provided partial further support for the conceptual metaphor theory and advanced knowledge in the area of emotion and vertical attention using pictorial stimuli such as facial expressions. It also provides some direction for future research in this area, highlighting key issues to be resolved.</p>

scholarly journals The Effect of Valenced Facial Expressions on Vertical Selective Attention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Marie-Louise Beintmann
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Mood Induction ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Emotional Facial Expressions ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Positive Valence

<p>Research using mood induction (Wapner, Werner & Krus, 1957) or positive/negative word stimuli, (Meier & Robinson, 2004) as well as studies using participants pre-existing neurotic/depressive symptoms (Meier & Robinson, 2006) have documented the ability of emotional stimuli and states to shift attention upwards (positive emotion) or downwards (negative emotion) in space. This study aimed to investigate whether this impact of emotion on vertical attention extended to briefly presented facial expressions. A within-subjects, modified version of Meier and Robinson’s (2004) Study 2 formed the design for these experiments. Experiments 1- 4 tested the ability of arrows, shapes and emotional facial expressions to shift vertical attention. Results indicate that for both schematic (Exp.2) and real (Exp. 4) faces, positive valence (happy expression) shifted attention upwards, but there was no evidence of the negative valence (sad expression) shifting attention downwards, giving partial support to the conceptual metaphor theory. No evidence of positive valence broadening - or negative valence narrowing - vertical attention was found in support of Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory (Exps.2 & 4). The current research has provided partial further support for the conceptual metaphor theory and advanced knowledge in the area of emotion and vertical attention using pictorial stimuli such as facial expressions. It also provides some direction for future research in this area, highlighting key issues to be resolved.</p>

scholarly journals Metaphorical framing in political discourse through words vs. concepts: a meta-analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRITTA C. BRUGMAN ◽  
CHRISTIAN BURGERS ◽  
BARBARA VIS
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Framing Effects ◽  
Levels Of Analysis ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Beliefs And Attitudes ◽  
Level Of Analysis

abstractConceptual metaphor theory and other important theories in metaphor research are often experimentally tested by studying the effects of metaphorical frames on individuals’ reasoning. Metaphorical frames can be identified by at least two levels of analysis: words vs. concepts. Previous overviews of metaphorical-framing effects have mostly focused on metaphorical framing through words (metaphorical-words frames) rather than through concepts (metaphorical-concepts frames). This means that these overviews included only experimental studies that looked at variations in individual words instead of at the broader logic of messages. For this reason, we conducted a meta-analysis (k = 91, N = 34,783) to compare the persuasive impact of both types of metaphorical frames. Given that patterns of metaphor usage differ across discourse domains, and that effects may differ across modalities and discourse domains, we focused on one mode of presentation and one discourse domain only: verbal metaphorical framing in political discourse. Results showed that, compared to non-metaphorical frames, both metaphorical-words and metaphorical-concepts frames positively influenced beliefs and attitudes. Yet, these effects were larger for metaphorical-concepts frames. We therefore argue that future research should more explicitly describe and justify which level of analysis is chosen to examine the nature and effects of metaphorical framing.

Translating developed metaphors

Babel ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 402-422
Author(s):  
Simon Tebbit ◽  
John J. Kinder
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
Figure Of Speech ◽  
Metaphorical Expression ◽  
The Individual

Cognitive understandings of metaphor have led to significant advances in understandings of how to translate metaphor. Theoretical accounts of metaphor not as a figure of speech but as a mode of thought, have provided useful tools for analysis and for translation work. This has usually happened at the level of individual metaphorical expressions, while the deeper lesson of cognitive theories has not been taken to heart by translation scholars, with a few signal exceptions. In this article we explore the potential of Conceptual Metaphor Theory for translating related metaphorical expressions within a specific text. We propose a model for understanding metaphor translation that takes as its unit of analysis not the individual metaphorical expression but the conceptual metaphor, of which the metaphorical expression is but a particular instantiation. It is this theoretical grounding that will allow us to propose a model for translating developed metaphors and related metaphorical expressions.

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