How Metaphor Scenarios can Reveal Socio-cultural and Linguistic Variations of Meaning

A Cross-linguistic Perspective on the “ Nurturing Parent ” and the “ STRICT Father ” Frames

Bibliographic Data

ID20414304
AuthorsAnaïs Augé (0000-0002-9401-4029, Language and Communication Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume34
Issue4
Pages209-228
Publication date2019-10-02
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMetaphor and Symbol (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1092-6488 • E-ISSN: 1532-7868
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10926488.2019.1683949
OpenAlexW2982424632
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited23

This research investigates the cross-linguistic exploitations of Lakoff’s “STRICT FATHER” and “NURTURING PARENT” frames. The British, American, Spanish, and French languages show significant variations of meaning of the metaphorical expression “Mother Earth/Nature” used in press articles discussing climate change. The shift from conceptual metaphor theory to metaphor scenarios operated in this research reveals major adjustments to Lakoff’s findings with, notably, the identification of a “STRICT MOTHER” in our corpus. The cross-linguistic perspective also emphasizes socio-cultural influence on the metaphorical interpretation and the related metaphorical frames. For instance, our results highlight linguistic evidences of language-specific and culture-specific characterizations of the “MOTHER”. The reliance on “RELIGION” metaphors in climate change discourses has been previously documented by researchers. However, we demonstrate that the reliance on myths has a significant role to play in the characterization of the “MOTHER” in different languages. The association between the myths and the frames related to the figure of the “MOTHER” also influences the understanding of the topic of climate change fulfilling different argumentative stances

Argumentative · Conceptual metaphor · Linguistics · Metaphor · Sociology · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Computer Science · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Representations and Identity

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub