LINGUIST List 29.778
Fri Feb 16 2018
Confs: Cog Sci, Disc Analysis, Gen Ling, Historical Ling, Semantics/Portugal
Editor for this issue: Kenneth Steimel <kenlinguistlist.org>
Date: 10-Feb-2018
From: Angeliki Athanasiadou <angath
enl.auth.gr>
Subject: Figurativity Mixed and Massed: Blends and Bursts in
Figurative Communication
E-mail this
message to a friend Figurativity Mixed and Massed: Blends and Bursts
in Figurative Communication
Date: 02-Oct-2018 - 02-Oct-2018
Location:
Braga, Portugal
Contact: Angeliki Athanasiadou
Contact Email:
<
click here to access email > Linguistic Field(s): Cognitive
Science; Discourse Analysis; General Linguistics; Historical Linguistics; Semantics
Meeting Description:
For a long time scholars have studied figures
in isolation; focusing on the way a particular figure is conceptualized and
expressed and applying this knowledge on the impact of a figure both on linguistic
as well as nonlinguistic realizations. Some exceptions that focused on the
interaction of figures: metaphtonymy introduced by Goossens (1990) and later in
2003, the interaction of metaphor and metonymy by Geeraerts, etc. soon made it clear
though that figures rarely work on their own.
In recent literature, chains
of a particular figure have been revealed, for instance sequences involving
metaphor. Mixed metaphors or multiple metaphors are discussed in Gibbs (2016) with
interesting contributions employing a variety of terminologies in order to cope with
different types of combinations of metaphors or combinations of metaphor with other
figures. So we encounter cases of extended metaphor (Naciscione): “A metaphor can be
extended only by extension of its metaphorical image” and “apart from metonymy,
extended metaphor may incorporate other figurative modes (.. , pun, hyperbole,
irony)”. For Müller, in the same volume, “metaphoric meaning is the product of a
process of cognitively activating selected facets of source and target…”. For
Cameron, mixed metaphors involve, “multiple juxtaposed verbal metaphors”. She also
talks about metaphor clusters in discourse and Müller talks about multi-modal
cluster of metaphoric expressions. David, Lakoff and Stickles (2016) discuss
metaphoric cascades: “pre-existing packages of hierarchically organized primary and
general metaphors that occur together”. The interaction between metaphor and
metonymy, called metaphoric complexes and their amalgams, has been studied and
refined by Ruiz de Mendoza and his associates (Ruiz de Mendoza and Galera 2014,
Miro-Sastre 2017).
It is also the case that we find the cooperation of more
than two figures and it is not infrequent to have metaphor, metonymy, irony, and
hyperbole all in one construction. Popa-Wyatt talks about compound figures and
Musolff discusses the interaction of metaphor, irony and sarcasm in public
discourse. These are some studies among many others which are concerned with the
relationship between figures, as well as the priority of one over the other in their
interaction.
Another interesting aspect in figurative mixing involves the
relationship between figurative language and other modalities like, for instance,
gestures; which frequently occur in bursts. There have been studies showing that
when both gestures and figures occur, gestures typically augment the figurativity
(Corts and Pollio 1999, Corts and Meyers 2002). Questions on figurativity with other
modalities reveal multiple functions performed by such bursts. Cienki and Müller
2008, and Müller 2007, among others, focus on the characteristics and the function
of such bursts.
The aim of the current proposed theme session is (a) to
discuss the difference between terms assigned for the interaction among figures,
namely clusters, cascades, amalgams, blends, multiple, mixed/mixing figures,… . Why
do scholars feel the need to label them one way or another? To what should we
attribute these differences?, and (b) to draw the attention of scholars working on
figuration towards the mixing of figures and their functions. The session aims at
discussing, on the one hand, the cooperation between figures and, on the other, the
cooperation of figures with other modalities (though a combination of the two need
not be excluded). The ultimate aim of the theme session is to reveal the flexibility
as well as the creativity in communication through figurative blends and/or bursts.
Page Updated: 16-Feb-2018