Metaphor and the Social World - Online First

This paper examines how contemporary Christian contemplative discourse integrates two apparently opposed construals of religious experience: relational intimacy with a divine entity and non-conceptual states of pure awareness. We argue that relational intimacy is conceptualized through warmth, connection, spatial proximity, shared will, and resonance, underpinned by a linked goal schematic structure. By contrast, non-conceptual awareness is conceptualized through release, falling, dropping out, darkness, and the cessation of attentional movement, while also exhibiting various degrees of source-path-goal attenuation. Despite their apparent incompatibility, this paper argues that conceptual blending allows these perceived experiences to be encapsulated within a single framework of belief and practice. Focusing on Cynthia Bourgeault’s (2016) The Heart of Centering Prayer, we demonstrate how her use of the metaphor scenario of entering the cloud, drawn from the Christian mystical classic The Cloud of Unknowing, offers one such example. The analysis shows how metaphor and blending enable contemporary contemplative discourse to negotiate the social and theological boundary between Christian relational theism and nondual spirituality.

This paper investigates the affective dimension of metaphor meaning. Previous research has extensively examined the role of metaphor conventionality in metaphor comprehension, however, less attention has been given to whether the level of conventionality — a metaphor’s familiarity or salience — is related to its affective component. This study addresses that question in the context of happiness metaphors in Spanish. The study has two main objectives. First, metaphorical expressions related to happiness were identified and categorized into conceptual metaphors using a sample of language taken from the Corpus del Español. Second, sixty participants evaluated 96 metaphorical expressions of happiness in terms of affective valence strength, familiarity, and imageability. The ratings revealed strong correlations among the three variables: metaphors that were more familiar and easier to imagine tended to be associated with more extreme affective valence values. Nevertheless, subsequent regression-based mediation analysis suggested that the influence of familiarity on valence may be mediated by imageability. The findings are discussed in relation to embodied models of conceptual metaphor representation.

Metaphor is used as a tool for communicating specialist knowledge to non-specialists in popular discourse and in educational contexts. Research has explored its use in higher education, but less is known about its efficacy with learners of school age. Experimental research has shown that very young children are able to interpret and produce attributional metaphors, but that relational metaphors and analogies do not seem to be understood until late childhood. The qualitative study reported here complements that work. We interviewed 30 children aged between 10 and 12 in focus groups, eliciting instances of academic words and meanings that they found new and challenging, and using naturally-occurring educational texts as prompts for discussion about individual words. We found some awareness of polysemy in general, and of word meanings that have a metaphorical basis. However, when they encountered a new metaphor-related meaning of a known word, the children showed a tendency to fall back on the previously known meaning even where this was contextually unfeasible. When specifically asked to work out the new meanings, it became evident that this is often challenging for them even with scaffolding.

Metaphors are essential for articulating emotional and psychological experiences that resist literal expression, especially in contexts of mental illness. This study explores how Malay-speaking individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) use metaphorical language to express emotional distress, identity, and cultural meaning. Drawing on 38 clinical interviews conducted at the University of Malaya Medical Centre, metaphorical expressions were identified using the Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP), complemented by Frame Semantics, Affective Metaphor Theory, and Critical Metaphor Analysis. Six dominant metaphor themes emerged confinement, burden, descent, disconnection, combat, and divine trial each reflecting cognitive schemas and Malay-Muslim cultural scripts. Particular attention is given to metaphor simile hybrids and polysemous anchors, which carry affective and spiritual meaning. The study demonstrates how metaphor’s structure lived experiences and mediate between individual suffering and cultural worldviews. These findings contribute to ongoing debates in metaphor research on cross-cultural variation, affective intensity, and clinical communication. The study advocates for metaphor literacy in mental health settings. It aligns with recent work in metaphor studies that emphasize discourse, stigma, and identity in mental health narratives.

The complexity of the science underlying quantum technology may pose a barrier to its democratization. This study investigated whether metaphors improve comprehension of, and shape attitudes toward, quantum technology. Specifically, we examined effects on perceived comprehension of a newspaper article about a new quantum computer, actual comprehension of underlying quantum phenomena (superposition and entanglement), and affect- and cognition-based attitudes. In an online experiment (n = 1,167 participants representative of the Dutch population), participants read a news article that included a metaphorical, non-metaphorical, or no explanation of a quantum phenomenon. Both explanation types reduced perceived comprehension of the news article compared to the control group, but increased actual comprehension of the quantum phenomenon. No direct effects were found on affect-based or cognition-based attitudes. Mediation analyses revealed a very small negative indirect effect of explanations on attitudes, through lower perceived comprehension, and a very small positive indirect effect of explanations on attitudes via increased actual comprehension — though the latter was counteracted by a negative direct effect. As metaphors offered no additional benefit over non-metaphorical explanations, the findings suggest they do not provide a communicative advantage for enhancing understanding or shaping attitudes in this context.

Although Canada is reputed for being a multicultural society, Canadians’ opinions vary regarding the extent to which multiculturalism should be promoted. Examining metaphorical language in discourse about multiculturalism may reveal which metaphors are typically used to endorse it and which ones are typically used to express a more skeptical stance. This study analyzed 646 opinion pieces regarding multiculturalism published in Canadian newspapers. Linguistic metaphors were identified and then grouped under themes. The texts were categorized according to the authors’ stance, and instantiations of the metaphor themes were tallied to determine if some occur more frequently in discourse that promotes multiculturalism compared to discourse that expresses reservations. Some metaphor themes were instantiated more often either in texts painting a positive picture of multicultural society (e.g., a multicultural society is a varied, multi-component work of art or craft) or in ones expressing reservations (e.g., multiculturalism is a destabilizing or divisive force). Such contrasts were nonetheless attenuated by the way a single metaphor theme can be used to serve different rhetorical purposes. It also appears that writers are not always aware of the entailments of the metaphors they use, especially if these are conventionalized phrases.