scholarly journals “Stand Still in The Light”: What Conceptual Metaphor Research Can Tell Us about Quaker Theology

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Rachel Kirkwood
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Theological Thought

The purpose of this study is to explore how an interdisciplinary approach can benefit Quaker Studies. The paper applies conceptual Metaphor Theory to help explicate aspects of theology in 17th century Quaker writings. It uses a combination of close reading supported by a corpus of related texts to analyse the writing of 4 key figures from the first decade of the movement. Metaphor analysis finds that orientational schemas of UP-DOWN and IN-OUT are essential structural elements in the theological thought of all 4 writers, along with more complex metaphors of BUILDINGS. Quaker writers make novel extensions to and recombinations of Biblical metaphors around Light and Stones, as well as using aspects of the theory of Elements. Such analysis can help explicate nuances of theological meaning-making. The evaluation of DOWN IS GOOD and UP IS BAD—except in specific circumstances—is distinctively Quaker, and embodied metaphors of divine immanence in humans indicate a ‘flipped’ soteriology which is distanced from the Christ event.

The structure of our concepts: A critical assessment of Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a theory of concepts

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peer F. Bundgaard
Keyword(s):  
Meaning Making ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Abstract Concepts ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Specific Domain ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Cross Domain ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
Experimental Findings

Abstract George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory is by and large a theory of what (abstract) concepts are, how they are structured, and how this structure is acquired — i.e., by mapping of structure from one more concrete or sensory-motor specific domain to another more abstract domain. Conceptual metaphors therefore rest on “cross-domain mappings.” The claims to the effect that our abstract concepts are metaphorically structured and that cross-domain mappings constitute one of the fundamental cognitive meaning-making processes are empirical and can therefore be put to the test. In this paper, I will critically assess Conceptual Metaphor Theory as a theory of concepts in light of recent experimental findings. Many such findings provide evidence for the psychological reality of cross-domain mappings, i.e., that structure activated in one domain actually can perform cognitive tasks carried out in another domain. They do not, however, support the claim that the structure of our (abstract) concepts is still metaphorical, as Lakoff and Johnson claim — that is to say, that our mind actually does perform cross-domain mappings when we process conventional conceptual metaphors such as “Death is Rest” or “Love is a Journey.” Two conclusions can be drawn from this: (1) it is necessary to distinguish between cross-domain mappings (which are psychologically real) and the metaphoric structure of our concepts (which is not, in the sense that such concepts do not any longer activate cross-domain mappings when processed); (2) Conceptual Metaphor Theory is not an adequate theory of concepts. I will therefore sketch another more viable theory of concepts where the structure of our concepts is defined as the full ecology of their situations of use, which includes the kind of situations (objects, agents, interactions) they apply to and the kind of emotional, cognitive, bodily, and behavioral responses they elicit. On this view, the contents of our concepts are to be considered as vague predicates, with vague extensions, which take on a specific form in their situation of use.

scholarly journals On the “body’s absence”: The embodied experience of exile in Joseph Brodsky’s “To Urania”

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-39
Author(s):  
Anne Holm
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Literary Representations ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Embodied Mind ◽  
The Past ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Vicarious Experiences

Abstract With Joseph Brodsky’s poem “To Urania” as a case study, this article argues that a cognitive stylistic approach offers a new way into exploring literary representations of the experience of displacement. Drawing on the notion of the embodied mind in Conceptual Metaphor Theory, it presents a close reading of the poem’s portrayal of exile as a “felt” absence. The tension between the immediacy of embodied experience and what lies beyond its grasp is investigated with a particular consideration of enactivism and the dynamics of reading. Metaphor is seen as a tool for enacting vicarious experiences, but also as a means of conveying the difficulty of representing an experience of displacement. The analysis thus focuses on the poem’s strategies for negotiating the discrepancy between the past and the present. These include expressions viewing memory as a space, the juxtaposition of the personal and the generic, and projected movement.

scholarly journals Light as a visual source domain for the divine in the 17th century painting

Jezikoslovlje ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-324
Author(s):  
Janja Čulig
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Divine Presence ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approaches ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Religious Paintings

The aim of this paper is to explain the motivation behind the creation of religious visual art in which light plays the role of the signifier of divine presence. We will endeavor to show that representations of light in paintings from a particular socio-cultural period and context are based on metaphorization. The meaning that arises from this metaphorization establishes a connection between depicted light and the basic conceptual metaphor KNOWING IS SEEING. Our aim is to show that the understanding of these kinds of representations by the viewer as the presence of the divine is based on the fundamental human capacity to conceptualize abstract notions through concrete ones. We propose that a visual representation of light would not be completely understandable if the viewer did not possess an inherent knowledge of basic conceptual metaphors of light. The visual material selected for this article comprises samples of 17th century religious paintings of the Western artistic tradition, in which light serves as the primary carrier of divine meaning and the central element of the composition. Our proposition is based on the conjoining of two disciplines into an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing paintings from the Baroque period. The selected theoretical framework includes Conceptual Metaphor Theory and the conceptualization of abstract notions (Lakoff & Johnson 1980; Gibbs 1994, 2008; Kövecses 2005; Forceville & Urios-Aparisi 2009; Sharifian 2011; Raffaelli 2012; Forceville 2017), as well as art-historical insights into the utilization of pictorial elements of light in the formal visual language of the Baroque (Haskell 1963; Lambert 2007; Toman 2007; Cvetnić 2007). The significance of this kind of research lies in the prospects of interdisciplinary approaches to concepts in general. This combination of scientific perspectives could enable us to approach the concept of light from a wider perspective, which could lead to a deeper understanding of the concept, its use in human communication, and its significance for the structuring of the knowledge of the world by an individual, but also by the wider socio-cultural collective to which they belong.

A deep semantic corpus-based approach to metaphor analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen K. Dodge
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Computational Tools ◽  
Source Domain ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Metaphor Use

This paper demonstrates the fruitful application of the formalization of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, combined with metaphor constructions and computational tools to a large-scale, corpus-based approach to the study of metaphor expressions. As the case study of poverty metaphor expressions illustrates, the representation of individual metaphors and frames as parts of larger conceptual networks facilitates analyses that capture both local details and larger patterns of metaphor use. Significantly, the data suggest that the two most frequently used source domain networks in poverty metaphor expressions each support different types of inferences about poverty, its effects, and possible ways to reduce or end it.

Formalizing contemporary conceptual metaphor theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise Stickles ◽  
Oana David ◽  
Ellen K. Dodge ◽  
Jisup Hong
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Data Driven Approach ◽  
Hierarchical Nature

This paper describes an innovative formalization of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and its implementation in a structured metaphor repository. Central to metaphor analysis is the development of an internal structure of frames and relations between frames, based on an Embodied Construction Grammar framework, which then informs the structure of metaphors and relationships between metaphors. The hierarchical nature of metaphors and frames is made explicit, such that inferential information originating in embodied conceptual primitives is inherited throughout the network. The present analysis takes a data-driven approach, where lexical differences in linguistic expressions attested in naturally-occurring discourse lead to a continued refinement and expansion of our analyses.

scholarly journals Concepts of Life and Death in Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’

Eikon / Imago ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Mirka Cirovic
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Selected Lines ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
Tragic Hero ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Human Purpose

No Dane of flesh and bone has been written so devoutly about as Hamlet, which is why he has lived the fate of only a few literary heroes who exist independently of texts and theatre. The tragic hero has become a metaphor in himself, which is why I will attempt to read and interpret Hamlet through the prism of conceptual metaphor theory. My prime interest will be invested in metaphorical representations of life and death perceived as target domains in the process of mapping. It is preoccupation with these abstract notions that gives somber color to the play, defines its mood of nihilism and disillusionment. Hamlet is the play with a high number of references to life, death, the afterlife, and human purpose so that metaphorical linguistic expressions that deal with these themes become corpus for the analysis in this paper. Conceptual metaphor analysis will reveal profound meanings of the selected lines, which are to be found beneath the level of language and syntax, in the sphere where conceptualization of the abstract occurs. Conceptual metaphor analysis may also help us get closer to Shakespeare the man since his unlimited consciousness is, at least to some extent, translated into Hamlet.

scholarly journals Beyond Predator and Prey: Figuring Corruption through Animal Metaphoric Scenarios in the Jordanian Context

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Mohammad Abedltif Albtoush ◽  
Sakina Suffian Sahuri
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Pragmatic Approach ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cultural Implications ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Critical Metaphor Analysis

Combining a cognitive approach based on Lakoff’s Conceptual Metaphor Theory and a pragmatic approach based on Critical Metaphor Analysis, this study investigates the use of ANIMAL metaphoric scenarios to figure corruption as a relationship between predators and prey and the cultural implications in the Jordanian context. It also seeks to identify the diverse functions performed by the use of ANIMAL metaphors. Data for the study consist of 10 excerpts taken from a satire-genre discourse “sawalief.com”. My argument is that all animal metaphors in the corpus promote the contrast between the ACTIVITY of corrupters and the PASSIVITY of the citizenry and that the goal of this rhetoric is to move the PASSIVE citizenry into ACTION by shaming them into fighting corruption. This is clearly illustrated through the use of two types of ANIMAL metaphoric scenarios: ACTIVE ANIMALS representing corrupters and politicians, and PASSIVE ANIMALS representing the citizens. In addition, the use of these metaphors performs diverse functions: ideological, cognitive, and rhetorical. 

scholarly journals MICRO-CELEBRITIES’ CONCEPT OF HIJRAH: A CRITICAL METAPHOR ANALYSIS

PARADIGM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Zainur Rofiq
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Speech Corpora ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Critical Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Pragmatic Aspect ◽  
Economic Discourses

<p class="Abstrak">The integration between the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and the pragmatic aspect of the metaphor usage has resulted in the emergence of the Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) approach to examine metaphors in public discourse. By applying this approach, the present study explores the types of metaphors in Ustadz Hanan Attaki (henceforth UHA) and Ustadz Abdul Somad (Henceforth UAS) both English and Indonesian speech corpora on economic discourses and their possible latent ideologies. The results also indicate that some (linguistic) realizations of conceptual mappings of the metaphors in UHA and UAS’ corpus are used to evoke the emotion and the soul of their audiences. Further, the current study also shows that both UHA and UAS share similar <em>collectivism/jama’ah</em><em> </em>ideological values manifested through the <em>journey </em>and <em>battle </em>metaphors dataset.</p>

Metaphor, Cognition, Culture

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoltán Kövecses
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Other ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Culture And Cognition ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
The One ◽  
Cultural Reality ◽  
Metaphor And Metonymy

The chapter reports on work concerned with the issue of how conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) functions as a link between culture and cognition. Three large areas are investigated to this effect. First, work on the interaction between conceptual metaphors, on the one hand, and folk and expert theories of emotion, on the other, is surveyed. Second, the issue of metaphorical universality and variation is addressed, together with that of the function of embodiment in metaphor. Third, a contextualist view of conceptual metaphors is proposed. The discussion of these issues leads to a new and integrated understanding of the role of metaphor and metonymy in creating cultural reality and that of metaphorical variation across and within cultures, as well as individuals.

scholarly journals Conceptualizations of the Heart in Jordanian Arabic: A Cognitive Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Omar Bani Mofarrej ◽  
Ghaleb Rabab'ah
Keyword(s):  
Human Body ◽  
Human Heart ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Cognitive Mechanisms ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Cognitive Perspective ◽  
Jordanian Arabic ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Idiomatic Expressions ◽  
Levantine Arabic

The present paper examines the metaphorical and metonymical conceptualizations of the heart in Jordanian Arabic (JA) within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). The main aim is to explore how the human heart is conceptualized in JA, and to test the applicability of the different general cognitive mechanisms proposed by Niemeier (2003 and 2008) to those found in JA. The data were extracted from Idioms and Idiomatic Expressions in Levantine Arabic: Jordanian Dialect (Alzoubi, 2020), and other resources including articles, dissertations and books of Arabic proverbs. The findings revealed that all the four general cognitive mechanisms suggested by Niemeier (2003 and 2008) are applicable to JA. The findings also showed that the similarity derives from the universal aspects of the human body, which lends tremendous support to the embodiment hypothesis proposed by cognitive linguists. 

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