Metaphor and the Social World - Volume 14, Issue 2, 2024

Abstract

This paper examines the forms and functions of Internet memes relating to the fuel subsidy removal policy of Nigeria´s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with a view to identifying the conceptual metaphors that underlie the creation of the memes. The data, which consist of fifty memes shared in the Nigerian WhatsApp space, are analysed qualitatively using aspects of Kress and van Leeuwen´s (2001) multimodal discourse analysis and Forceville´s (2015) multimodal metaphor theory. The findings reveal that the discourse, design and production of the multimodal resources enhance the conceptualization of the metaphorical representations in the memes. The study also shows the prevalence of the metaphors: fuel subsidy removal is a fraud, fuel subsidy removal is poverty and fuel subsidy removal is inequality among other conceptual metaphors to explain the people´s negative disposition towards the fuel subsidy removal policy. The study concludes that the forms and functions of the subsidy removal-related memes assist in revealing the multimodal conceptual metaphors underlying the memes.

Abstract

Technological innovations, under the aegis of ‘technology-enhanced learning’ (TEL), are high on policy agenda in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK and elsewhere. These developments have a direct impact on the conditions of teaching and learning. The socio-cultural dimension – the impact of change on working communities and their practices and beliefs on the ground – appears under-researched in empirical work (Selwyn, 2022). This paper reports on a qualitative study incorporating an analysis of linguistic metaphors that attempted to investigate that gap in one institutional context.

It begins with a critical review of metaphors associated with policy and educational technology innovation in education discourses more broadly. Teaching staff were interviewed from across the institution’s main faculties. The interview transcripts formed a databank of naturally occurring language. Respondents used a range of metaphors, both conventional and novel, revealing insights into the affective and sociocultural dimensions of experience and understanding as well as perceptions of changing professional roles. For triangulation, linguistic analyses of relevant documentary sources, where available, were made and an example is included here. Overall, a more nuanced understanding of lecturers’ lived experience and engagement with educational technology was achieved by focusing on their metaphor usage.

Abstract

This paper investigates the creative use of the structural, embodied journey metaphor within the genre of video advertising using Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). Conducting a qualitative analysis of eight Huawei mobile phone commercials, I examine how multimodal resources — visual, verbal and written language, as well as music and sound — are orchestrated to construct and communicate the metaphorical narrative of using a Huawei mobile phone in terms of a journey. The analysis reveals a heavy reliance on visual elements, supported by the strategic use of sound and music, to create metaphors that communicate progress and exploration — themes central to the journey concept. This paper shows how the journey metaphor in audio-visual advertising diverges from its purely verbal varieties by drawing on medium-specific capabilities such as time and space compression, and on hyperbole. It is argued that the journey metaphor’s embodied nature and its potency in aligning the mobile phone with consumer aspirations contribute to the universal appeal and understanding of the commercials.

Abstract

Metaphor has increasingly been recognized as an effective investigative tool, especially in educational research, because it allows for insight into implicit beliefs, values and assumptions about the world around us. This article discusses methodological issues involved in ‘getting at’ students’ metaphors, the first step in metaphor analysis in educational research. Our focus is on techniques of eliciting metaphor, where respondents are overtly prompted to produce a metaphor about a particular issue. We discuss different elicitation techniques in four studies: study 1 without any scaffolding, just a prompt for eliciting metaphor; study 2 with minimal scaffolding in the form of a definition of metaphor and illustrative examples; study 3 with a brief classroom intervention before elicitation; and study 4 with a longer intervention over an entire semester. We gained the most thorough results in study 4, which also arguably provided the most valuable learning experience for the respondents. This came at a price however — a great investment of time over the course of a semester. In the event that no classroom time may be set aside for work with metaphor, the non-interventional approach of study 2 offers an acceptable alternative. Even a few explanatory lines about metaphor prove helpful in eliciting metaphor.

Abstract

This study examined the Russian state-sponsored outlet “Sputnik’s” metaphorical use in covering American withdrawal from Afghanistan to explain rhetorical devices used to disseminate discourse about Russia’s geo-political rival, the United States. Using the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), the study analyzed 28 main metaphors and metaphorical expressions in “Sputnik’s” coverage during the week of the American pullout. Metaphors such as Biden’s Saigon, puppet government, or Night of the Long Knives suggest the existence of a discourse criticizing the rival and historicizing the event. The results are interpreted in light of using metaphors in the media’s conflict coverage.

Abstract

This article responds to the latest theoretical and empirical developments in Deliberate Metaphor Theory (DMT) and explores the extension of deliberate metaphor and its use in translation and interpreting. Grounded on a comprehension-based and a production-based perspective of Deliberate Metaphor Theory, I argue that both deliberate metaphor and deliberate metaphor use are valid theoretical constructs for translation and interpreting research. I then discuss some pending issues in researching deliberate metaphor (use) in translation and interpreting.

This article reviews Motion Metaphors in Music Criticism: An Empirical Investigation of Their Conceptual Motivation and Their Metaphoricity978 90 272 1271 9978 90 272 5694 2

This article reviews Figurativity and Human Ecology978 90 272 1164 4978 90 272 5736 9

This article reviews Visual Metaphors978 90 272 1160 6978 90 272 5740 6