Metaphor in Communication, Science and Education

Francesca Ervas, Elisabetta Gola, Maria Grazia Rossi, Francesca Ervas, Elisabetta Gola, Maria Grazia Rossi

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9783110651881
• eBook ISBN: 9783110548129
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This collection of papers presents some recent trends in metaphor studies that propose new directions of research on the embodied cognition perspective. The overall volume, in particular, shows how the embodied cognition still remains a relevant approach in a multidisciplinary research on the communicative side of metaphors, by focusing on both comprehension processes in science as well as learning processes in education.

Part I:Theoretical perspectives

Zoltán Kövecses

Metaphor and metonymy in folk and expert theories of emotion

Zoltán Kövecses, Eötvös Loránd University

1Introduction

The conference where a previous version of this paper was presented had as its major topic: metaphors in communication, science, and education. Thus, it seems appropriate to ask the question: What role does metaphor play in folk and expert theories of emotion? What makes the question interesting is that while we would expect folk theories of emotion to use metaphors to a greater or lesser extent, the use of metaphor in expert, or scientific, theories appears to be much less expected or even acceptable, and thus less likely. After all, folk theories are often language-based, and we know that the language of emotions is highly metaphoric. At the same time, we expect expert theories to give us the truth about emotions without the metaphors that pervade everyday language.

And in the context of the present conference on metaphor, the issue is even more interesting because it has implications for how we view metaphor as the object of our study. An applied linguistic view of metaphor (shared by most participants here) assumes, in one form or another, some of the foundational claims of conceptual metaphor theory. One of these is that the metaphors we use are not isolated from each other but are systematic, that is, the claim that the metaphors used often form systematic groups (called “systematic metaphors”). However, other foundational claims of conceptual metaphor theory may not be accepted by the practitioners of metaphor analysis with an applied linguistic orientation. Perhaps chief among these is the idea that metaphors of the kind Lakoff and Johnson (1980) called “conceptual metaphors” are used in thinking about the subject matters they apply to. Such a claim concerning the status of conceptual metaphors in human thought is looked at with suspicion and is commonly regarded as exaggerated and even unfounded by discourse-oriented metaphor scholars (see, e.g., Cameron and Maslen 2010).

And yet this is precisely the view of metaphor that I would like to defend in this paper in an area that is one of the prime examples of human thought: the construction of expert, or scientific, theories. In particular, I would like to show that metaphors not only play a role in the formation of folk theories of emotion but also in the construction of expert theories. If it can be shown that both folk and expert theories are commonly based on the same conceptual metaphors, we get very strong additional evidence that conceptual metaphors are used in thought, and that, therefore, this reservation and the general skepticism concerning conceptual metaphor theory is not quite justified.

In the paper, I simply take a folk theory to be a theory implicit in language and an expert theory to be a theory proposed by scientists dealing with a domain, in our case, that of emotion.

2Emotion language and folk theories/models of emotion

In various previous publications, I argued that folk theories of emotion can be best described as consisting of a number of conceptual metaphors, conceptual metonymies, and “related concepts” (Kövecses 1986, 1990, 2000). These are the conceptual components that give rise to and constitute folk theories, or models, of emotion. Below are some examples of such conceptual components for the emotions in general and specific emotions in particular: (linguistic examples will be provided in later sections)

–General emotion metaphors:

–EMOTION IS A SUBSTANCE

–THE BODY IS A CONTAINER

–EMOTIONS ARE NATURAL/PHYSICAL FORCES

–EMOTION IS INSANITY

–EMOTION IS A DISEASE

–General emotion metonymies:

–BODY TEMPERATURE FOR THE EMOTION

–EXPRESSIVE RESPONSE FOR THE EMOTION

–BEHAVIORAL RESPONSE FOR THE EMOTION

–Specific emotion metaphors:

–Anger

–ANGER IS A HOT FLUID IN A CONTAINER

–Love

–LOVE IS A UNITY OF TWO COMPLEMENTARY PARTS

–Happiness

–HAPPINESS IS A NATURAL FORCE

–Pride

–PRIDE IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER

–TO BE PROUD IS TO BE BIG/UP/HIGH

–Specific emotion metonymies:

–Anger

–INCREASE IN BODY TEMPERATURE FOR ANGER

–Love

–BODILY CLOSENESS FOR LOVE

–Happiness:

–BECOMING RED IN THE FACE FOR JOY

–SMILING FOR HAPPINESS

–Pride:

–ERECT POSTURE/HEAD HELD HIGH FOR PRIDE

–CHEST (THRUST) OUT FOR PRIDE

Emotion-related metonymies serve to capture the physiological, expressive, and behavioral responses associated with emotions.

The relationship between these metaphors and metonymies is that the metaphors are based on the metonymies: for example, ANGER IS A HOT FLUID IN A CONTAINER is based on AN INCREASE IN BODY TEMPERATURE FOR ANGER, LOVE IS A UNITY OF TWO COMPLEMENTARY PARTS is based on BODILY CLOSENESS FOR LOVE, and TO BE PROUD IS TO BE BIG is based on CHEST OUT FOR PRIDE.

The process works like this: an emotion frame consists of a variety of elements, including the participating entities and the responses associated with an emotion. An emotion-specific response is generalized to a concept outside the emotion frame (e.g., BODY HEAT TO HEAT, BODILY CLOSENESS to CLOSENESS, and CHEST OUT to LARGE SIZE/BIGNESS). This generalized concept that is outside the original emotion frame becomes the source domain in the metaphorical conceptualization of the emotion (such as ANGER IS HEAT, LOVE IS UNITY/CLOSENESS, and PRIDE IS BIGNESS) (for more detail on the process, see Kövecses 2013).

In the case of most emotions, we experience changes in the body. This gives rise to the general metonymy THE FEELING OF BODILY CHANGE FOR THE EMOTION. Here the emotion-specific notion of FEELING OF BODILY CHANGE is generalized into the concept of FEELING. This generic concept then becomes the source domain for emotions in general: EMOTIONS ARE FEELINGS.

3What is the relationship between the folk and expert theories?

It is commonly the case that a conceptual metaphor in everyday language can be found in a corresponding expert theory of emotions; the expert theory typically elaborates the folk theory (partially) constituted by a metaphor. This can happen both in the case of individual folk theories for particular emotions or for groups of expert theories of emotion (examples are taken from my previous work).

3.1A conceptual metaphor shared by a folk and an expert theory

In this subsection, I briefly analyze particular metaphorical source domains (for particular emotions) that can also be found underlying expert theories for these emotions.

FLUID IN A CONTAINER AND LARGE SIZE

As we saw above, the emotions can be conceptualized as fluids inside a container. This metaphor exists in a generic and a specific version for pride: PRIDE IS A FLUID IN A CONTAINER and PRIDE IS A FLUID IN THE HEART. In Davitz’s (1969) expert theory, the key component of pride is what he calls “enhancement”. This can be noticed when people report experiences related to pride such as “I feel taller, stronger, bigger, strong inside”. The notion of enhancement seems to be based, in part, on the FLUID IN A CONTAINER metaphor. A container may grow in size (cf. swell with pride) when it contains a lot of fluid. To make this inference is justified by the behavioral response commonly observed in intense cases of pride: thrusting the chest out. The CHEST OUT FOR PRIDE metonymy and the FLUID IN A CONTAINER metaphor jointly motivate the expert notion of enhancement. Another way in which the notion of enhancement finds support in everyday metaphors is when the proud person is conceived metaphorically as big; i.e., through the metaphor TO BE PROUD IS TO BE BIG/HIGH/UP. This metaphor is in turn based on such metonymies of pride as ERECT POSTURE/HEAD HELD HIGH FOR PRIDE AND CHEST (THRUST) OUT FOR PRIDE.

UNITY

A major metaphor for ROMANTIC LOVE is the metaphor LOVE IS A UNITY (see Kövecses 1988, 2000). This metaphor has become the basis for several expert theories of love. A possible reason for this is that the metaphor captures a large number of our experiences in an intense love relationship. The idea that two people somehow form a unity, that they function together, that they are individually incomplete without the other, that they experience a sense of belonging together, and several others, are all implications of this metaphor. Many authors, beginning with Plato, picked up and elaborated on this metaphor in their expert theories (see, for example, Hatfield 1988, Solomon 1981).

RAPTURE

One of the metaphors associated with ROMANTIC LOVE is that LOVE IS A RAPTURE. One can be drunk or intoxicated with love. In addition to experiencing it as a pleasant state, the metaphor’s focuses on the notion of lack of control. When in love in an intense way, people are seen as not quite in possession of their powers, that is, they appear to have no control over their emotions and actions. Stanton Peele (1975) elevated this metaphor to the status of an expert theory in his book: in a telling way, the title of the book is LOVE AND ADDICTION.

NATURAL FORCE (storm, wave, flood)

This conceptual metaphor can be found in linguistic examples, such as “engulfed by passion”, “emotions swept over her”, “waves of passion came over him”, and “his emotions subsided”. The metaphor depicts emotions as overwhelming outside forces and people as being helpless and passive in relation to them; the emotions have control over us. Probably this is what Plato had in mind when he thought of emotions as wild horses running away with us. We are still talking about intense emotions as forces that carry us away or can transport us. Characteristically, we use the passive voice in such cases (“be carried away by emotion,” “be transported by a feeling,” etc.).

The metaphor LOVE IS A NATURAL OR PHYSICAL FORCE is the basis for the most prevalent belief about love; namely, that it is an experience that we undergo in a passive way: “we are bowled over” and “swept away by it.” Expert theories are commonly offered that challenge this metaphor-based assumption. In them, love is not seen as a force acting on us, but, instead, as a rational judgment, a conscious decision on our part (see, for example, Fromm 1956; Solomon 1981; Sternberg 1986). Although such expert theories challenge a conceptual metaphor, they clearly assume its existence.

BODY AS CONTAINER

As mentioned above, the emotions...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of contents
• How embodied cognition still matters to metaphor studies
• Part I: Theoretical perspectives
• Part II: Communication
• Part III: Science
• Part IV: Education
• Index