Metaphors in economics and biology academic discourse: evidence on the nature of source domain

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18364/rc.v1i60.409

Keywords:

metaphor, academic discourse, Economics, Biology, source domain.

Abstract

This work focuses on the occurrence of metaphors in Economics and Biology academic texts. Drawing on work by Lakoff & Johnson (1980), the investigation relies on the assumption that metaphorical expressions reflect metaphorical thought, and aims to characterize mental metaphors (both primary and analogical) reflected in metaphorical expressions in both areas. The analysis shows similarities regarding the choice of primary metaphors, as well as differences with respect to analogical metaphors. The Economics article shows a preference for analogical metaphors which have Biology as source-domain (ECONOMICS IS A LIVING BEING), whereas the Biology article has mostly Economics as source-domain (REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY IS ECONOMIC ACTIVITY). The results bring the following theoretical contributions: (i) counterevidence to the traditional view that the objectivity of scientific texts require literal language; (ii) evidence in favor of the occurrence of metaphoricity in academic texts, in different hierarchical levels; (iii) evidence that source domains can also be abstract, as long as they are intersubjectively verifiable.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Lilian Vieira Ferrari, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

É professora titular do Departamento de Linguística e Filologia da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), membro permanente do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Linguística/UFRJ, Pesquisadora nível 1 do CNPq e líder do Laboratório de Pesquisas em Linguística Cognitiva (LINC) da UFRJ.

Gabriele Felippe Fu, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Tem bacharelado e licenciatura em Letras – Português e Inglês, na Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. É membro do LINC-UFRJ, onde desenvolve pesquisas no âmbito do Projeto “Intersubjetividade, Figuratividade e Multimodalidade”, como bolsista CNPq/PIBIC.

References

BERGEN, B. Louder than words: the new science of how the mind makes meaning. New York: Basic Books, 2012. 296 p.

CAMERON, L. Operationalising ‘metaphor’ for applied linguistic research. In: CAMERON, L.; LOW, G. (Eds.), Researching and applying metaphor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. p. 3-28.

CAMERON, L. Metaphor in educational discourse. London: Continuum, 2003. 294 p.

CAMERON, L.; MASLEN, R. (Eds.). Metaphor Analysis: Research Practice in Applied Linguistics, Social Sciences and the Humanities. London, UK: Equinox. 2010. 306 p.

CASASANTO, D. The role of language in metaphor. In: Borkent, M.; Dancygier, B.; Hinnell, J. (Eds.). Language and the creative mind. Stanford: CSLI Publications, 2013, p. 3-18.

DANCYGIER, B; SWEETSER, E. Figurative Language. London: Cambrigde University Press, 2014. 242 p.

FERREIRA, P. C. G; CARDOSO, R.F. Desvalorização, Crescimento e a Relação entre Poupança Doméstica e Câmbio. Econômica, Niterói, v. 11, n.1, p. 39 – 47, jun. 2009.

GEERTZ, C. Works and lives. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988.157 p.

GIBBS, R. W.; CAMERON, L. The social-cognitive dynamics of metaphor performance. Cognitive Systems Research, v.9, n.1, p. 64-75, oct. 2008.

GRADY, J.E. Theories are buildings revisited. Cognitive Linguistics, v. 8, n. 4, p. 267–90, oct./dec.1997.

GRADY, J.E. The “Conduit” Metaphor revisited: a reassessment of metaphors for communication. In: KOENING, J. P. (Ed.), Conceptual Structure, Discourse and Language. Stanford: CSLI Publications, 1998. p. 205-218.

GRADY, J. E. A typology of motivation for conceptual metaphor: correlation vs. resemblance. In: STEEN, G. & GIBBS, R. (Eds.), Metaphor in Cognitive Linguistics, Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1999. p. 79-100.

LAKOFF, G.; JOHNSON, M. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1980. 242 p.

LAKOFF, G.; JOHNSON, M. Philosophy in the flesh; the embodied mind and its challenge to western thought. New York: Basic Books, 1999. 642 p.

MARIOT, A. et al. Aspectos da biologia reprodutiva de Drimys brasiliensis Miers (Winteraceae) em Floresta Ombrófila Mista, Sul do Brasil. Ciência Florestal, v.24, n.4, Santa Maria, vol. 24, n.4, p. 877-888, out./dez. 2014.

MÜLLER, C. What gestures reveal about the nature of metaphor. In: CIENKI, A.; ______. (Eds.), Metaphor and Gesture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2008. p. 219–245.

MÜLLER, C.; CIENKI, A. Words, Gestures, and Beyond: Forms of Multimodal Metaphor in the Use of Spoken Language. In: FORCEVILLE, C.; URIOS-APARISI, E. (Eds.) Multimodal metaphors. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009, p. 297-328.

ZAMEL, V.; SPACK, R. Negotiating academic literacies; teaching and learning across languages and cultures. New York: Rutledge, 1998. 352 p.

Downloads

Published

2020-12-03

Issue

2021: Issue 60

Section

Articles

License

The author who publishes in this journal agrees to the following terms: The author maintains the copyright and grants the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License that allows the sharing of the work with acknowledgment of the authorship and initial publication in this journal. The author is authorized to take additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg publish in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal. The author is allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute his work online (eg in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes, as well as increase the impact and citation of the published work.