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Introduction to the July and October special issues of IJLS on Metaphor in Contemporary Communication: Linguistic, Semiotic and Translational Perspectives

Metaphor has been shown to display a great degree of variation in terms of types, functions and characteristics depending on contextual and discursive factors. This paper carries out a corpus-based comparison of SPACE metaphors in specialised communication and popular science texts on breast cancer in Spanish. The aim is to explore the interaction of contextual and metaphor-inherent factors in bringing about variations in metaphor use. Results point to a complex interaction of both factors, with specific source and target domains proving especially productive in each type of discourse. In particular, popular science texts display a greater variety of metaphorical expressions built around the target-domain lemma célula [cell], which help visualise the disease at the microscopic level by representing cells as humans or animals endowed with intentionality and agency. In specialised discourse, the medically relevant target domains of TREATMENT and PATIENT prove more productive, leading to terminological metaphors that characterise the disease based on its location/extension.

Dementia literacy needs to be improved in order to tackle the stigma surrounding the condition. To create adequate interventions, the representation of the condition in various types of discourse first needs to be analysed. The present study contributes to that aim by analysing conceptual metaphors used to describe dementia in Flemish children’s books. A corpus of eleven children’s books for ages three to fourteen was compiled and analysed using a bottom-up approach. Seven conceptual metaphors were identified, namely (1) dementia as holes, (2) dementia as darkness, (3) dementia as a malfunction, (4) people with dementia as children, (5) people with dementia as unstable, (6) people with dementia as immovable objects, and finally (7) people with dementia as gone. Fictional characters with dementia avoided the use of metaphors to describe themselves, but they did use metaphors to describe the condition and its symptoms.

The paper explores the use of figurative language by Charlie Chan, a fictional Chinese detective protagonist of a series of novels and film adaptations between the 1920s and the 1940s. Chan’s construction as an ethnotype is strongly determined by language choices, including the recurring use of metaphors, similes, and proverbiality. In particular, the research focuses on the classification and analysis of Chan’s figurative speech patterns in the novel The Black Camel (1929), and features both a quantitative survey and qualitative comments on relevant examples. The results show numerous occurrences of figurative language, in a tension between conventional and creative uses, where especially the latter corresponds to a constant effort by the author to create a sense of ‘exotic’ otherness. This confirms that Charlie Chan is mainly constructed with a white orientalist audience in mind, in an attempt to cater for a stereotypical imagery that only occasionally overlaps with faithful ethnic and cultural representation.

This paper explores different approaches to the study of audiovisual metaphor: the semiotic and linguistic perspectives and the transition from the semantic to the pragmatic one, which has seen the convergence between film studies and Cognitive Metaphor Theory (CMT). Starting from this scenario, a specific case study will be proposed: the serial fiction Stranger things (Netflix, 2016). The series works on the encyclopedic stratification of one of the most consolidated metaphorical relationships in the repertoire of the genre, especially since the 1980s: the (reciprocal) substitution between the semantic plane of adolescence and that of otherness and the supernatural verging on horror.

This paper draws from the experience of supervising the subtitling of short films for several international film festivals carried out by MA students in Specialised Translation between 2021 and 2022. Starting from some considerations on the effectiveness of using short films in the didactics of translation, it will establish a parallel between the operations of synthesis activated in metaphor to resolve complex conflictual meanings creatively and those involved in short films. The unifying function played by metaphorical structures will be investigated in a selection of case studies, underlining the importance of preserving cultural, cognitive, and textual cohesion in the translation. Considering the inevitable metonymic-metaphoric continuum that characterises audiovisual texts and the need to avoid intersemiotic tension between channels in the subtitling process, the discussion will revolve around examples taken from different subgenres, from documentary to poetry films, aimed to illustrate a spectrum of challenges posed by the translation of metaphors and the strategies used to resolve them while respecting the viewer’s space for interpretation and, more generally, the delicate ‘ecosystem’ of the short film.

Pandemic writing uncovered the power of metaphors used by investigative journalists writing in the public interest from the very onset of the “war” against COVID-19. This analysis of the work of Aaron Derfel, an investigative journalist specialized in healthcare, and his use of deliberate metaphors underscores the failures of the system and calls for greater accountability. Recognized for his journalism ethics, Derfel documented and verified his work with utmost care doing so in the public interest. Derfel wrote in an impactful way using both affect and “deliberate metaphors” to achieve maximum effect publishing on the average one article a day at the beginning of the pandemic. He effectively raised awareness about major issues: the plight of vulnerable people, systemic failures, and government’s inability to ensure quality care. Metaphors served to reinforce his writing’s psychosocial impact. He served the public interest in the fulfillment of the deontological responsibilities of investigative journalism.

This paper examines the use of living metaphors in two chapters of Walden, Life in the Woods (1854)—namely, “Solitude” and “The Ponds”—by H. D. Thoreau. In these chapters, the rhetorical figure makes a decisive contribution to defining fundamental conceptual structures for the perspective of life and of thought that Thoreau wants to present, producing creative frames that define the metaphorical value of the whole experience at Walden Pond. He uses metaphorical concepts associated with the environment to create nature metaphors with a specific purpose: to bring man closer to nature, and nature closer to man. The analysis refers to Prandi’s (2017) theory on conceptual living metaphors; Prandi denies that living metaphorical expressions are extensions of conventional metaphorical structures, arguing instead that living metaphors are the result of conceptual conflict, as they are not supported by shared metaphorical concepts, but derive from complex and conflicting meanings. If living metaphors turn out to be a specific type of conceptual structure, their relationship to conventional metaphors needs to be reconsidered. This view enables an investigation into the use of living metaphor in Walden, where it is configured as a conceptual tool placed in service of the message Thoreau wishes to convey. Many creative metaphors in Walden are more than mere embellishment. They are conceptual structures that highlight conflictual meanings, bringing together conflicting concepts.