The Metaphor Compass: Directions for Metaphor Research in Language, Cognition, Communication, and Creativity

206 Pages·2022·16.154 MB·

by  Marianna Bolognesi, Ana Werkmann Horvat

THE METAPHOR COMPASS
The Metaphor Compass: Directions for Metaphor Research in Language, Cognition,
Communication, and Creativity provides a roadmap to navigate recent findings and
cutting-edge research conducted around the world on metaphor, focusing on
the following four themes: Metaphor and Linguistic Diversity, Metaphor and
Cognition, Metaphor and Communication, and Metaphor and Creativity.
The research presented in this book employs a variety of empirical methods,
ranging from neuroimaging to corpus analyses and from behavioral experimen-
tation to computational modeling. Divided into four parts, it offers an array of
pedagogical material including activities at the ends of chapters to help the reader
to consolidate the notions discussed in the chapter.
This is a useful resource for students, researchers, and scholars of linguistics,
communication, anthropology, psychology, and cognitive science looking to
learn about figurative language and creativity.
Marianna Bolognesi is Associate Professor at the University of Bologna, Italy,
and past Research Associate for the Creative Multilingualism project in the
Department of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of Oxford,
UK.
Ana Werkmann Horvat is an Assistant Professor at the University of Osijek,
Croatia, and past Research Associate for the Creative Multilingualism project in
the Department of Medieval and Modern Languages at the University of
Oxford, UK.

THE METAPHOR
COMPASS
Directions for Metaphor Research
in Language, Cognition,
Communication, and Creativity
Marianna Bolognesi and
Ana Werkmann Horvat
Designed cover image: Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
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© 2023 Marianna Bolognesi and Ana Werkmann Horvat
The right of Marianna Bolognesi and Ana Werkmann Horvat to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bolognesi, Marianna, author. | Werkmann Horvat, Ana, 1987- author.
Title: The metaphor compass : directions for metaphor research in language,
cognition, communication, and creativity / Marianna Bolognesi, Ana
Werkmann Horvat.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022030393 | ISBN 9780367484873 (hardback) | ISBN
9780367484866 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003041221 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Metaphor.
Classification: LCC PN228.M4 B65 2023 | DDC 401/.43--dc23/eng/20220826
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022030393
ISBN: 978-0-367-48487-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-48486-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-04122-1 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003041221
Typeset in Bembo
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To Mike, who thinks out of the box and keeps stumbling upon said box.
To Ivan, for whom the glass is always half full of the lemonade he made with the
lemons life has given him.

CONTENTS
List of figures xi
List of tables xii
Acknowledgments xiii
Note on the text xv
Introduction 1
PART I
Metaphor and linguistic diversity 5
1 Metaphoric expressions around the world: variability and
motivations 7
1.1 Key aspects and open questions: types of metaphoric
expressions 7
1.2 Research directions: the motivations for metaphor
variability 17
1.3 Metaphor variability applied: the interesting case of
emotion-color associations 23
1.4 Summary 28
Activities 28
Notes 29
References 29
viii Contents
2 Conceptual metaphors around the world: variability and
motivations 32
2.1 Key aspects and open questions: the universality of
metaphor 32
2.2 Research directions: how language drives thought 40
2.3 Metaphor variability applied: building cross-linguistic
repositories 44
2.4 Summary 48
Activities 49
Notes 50
References 50
PART II
Metaphor and cognition 55
3 Meaning variability: literal and metaphorical meanings 57
3.1 Key aspects and open questions: on the status of
literal vs. metaphorical meaning 57
3.2 Research directions: processing literal vs. metaphorical
meaning 64
3.3 Metaphor processing applied: understanding
literal vs. metaphorical meaning 68
3.4 Summary 73
Activities 74
References 75
4 Speakers’ variability: first- vs. second-language speakers
processing metaphors 80
4.1 Key aspects and open questions: metaphorical
competence in L1 and L2/LS 80
4.2 Research directions: from the classroom to the lab 87
4.3 Metaphor processing applied: L2 vs. L1 speakers use of
conventional metaphors 90
4.4 Summary 94
Activities 95
Notes 96
References 97
Contents ix
PART III
Metaphor and communication 99
5 Metaphor variability in monomodal and multimodal
communication 101
5.1 Key aspects and open questions: genres and modes of
metaphor expression 101
5.2 Research directions: the interpretation of metaphors
expressed beyond language 108
5.3 Metaphor variability across modes applied: tools for
metaphor identification and analysis in still and
moving images 114
5.4 Summary 120
Activities 121
References 122
6 Metaphor in verbal vs. visual communication 125
6.1 Key aspects and open questions: metaphoric pictorial
expressions and conceptual metaphors 125
6.2 Research directions: on the role of iconicity in
constructing metaphors in different semiotic systems 133
6.3 Metaphor variability across modes applied: on the
deliberateness of metaphors expressed beyond language 140
6.4 Summary 141
Activities 143
References 143
PART IV
Metaphor and creativity 147
7 Creativity and metaphorical thinking and talking 149
7.1 Key aspects and open questions: creative thinking 149
7.2 Research directions: linguistic creativity and metaphor 153
7.3 Variability in creative metaphor applied: mixing
idiomatic expressions and novel idioms 158
7.4 Summary 161
Activities 162
Notes 163
References 163