Metaphorical Conceptualization in Political Caricatures: A Multimodal Metaphor Theory Approach

Background and Aim: in cognitive linguistics, Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff ۱۹۹۳; Lakoff and Johnson ۱۹۸۰, ۱۹۹۹) is a well-known and highly influential theory that considers metaphor to be a fundamental part of human thought, not just an aspect of language. Conceptual metaphor, or cognitive metaphor, refers to the understanding of one idea, or conceptual domain, in terms of another. Cognitive linguists believe that metaphor is a fundamental and ubiquitous conceptual phenomenon to structure our social, intellectual and emotional everyday experiences. This suggests that all metaphors are not verbal and it can occur in other modes than language alone. Multimodal Metaphor theory (Forceville, ۲۰۰۸, ۲۰۰۹, ۲۰۱۴) considers multimodal metaphors as those "whose source and target are each represented exclusively or predominantly in different modes." Methods: The theoretical framework of the research is Multimodal Metaphor theory (Forceville, ۲۰۰۸, ۲۰۰۹, ۲۰۱۴). The present research focuses on the pictorial-verbal metaphors in political cartoons from Fars News Agency (www.farsnews.com) in a three-month period of time to reveal how these metaphors are used to express various political ideas and beliefs. Results: In this line, the present research aims to analyze a sample of political cartoons (or political caricatures) to show that pictorial-verbal metaphors, as a subcategory of multimodal metaphors, have a crucial role in conceptualization of various political ideas and beliefs. A political cartoon is 'an illustration or comic strip containing a political or social message that usually relates to... current events or personalities' (Schilperoord & Maes, ۲۰۰۹: ۲۱۵). There have been a few studies of pictorial-verbal metaphors in political cartoons in a few languages within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, yet Iranian political cartoons are seldom researched. The present study aims to fill this gap. Conclusion: Results show that there are three major mode configuration patterns, i.e. three types of mapping, in political pictorial-verbal metaphors: (۱) cross-modal mapping in which the source domain is rendered in the pictorial mode and the target domain verbal; (۲) mono-modal mapping in which that the source and the target domains are mainly rendered in the pictorial mode, with the verbal mode playing a subsidiary role in understanding of the metaphor; (۳) multimodal mapping in which the source domain is rendered pictorially and/or verbally, and the target domain is rendered both pictorially and verbally.

Keywords:

multimodal metaphor , verbopictorial metaphor , pictorial-verbal metaphor , political caricatures , metaphorical conceptualization , cognitive semantics