Home“Imago Mundi”. An Overview of Metaphor: Creativity, Phraseology and Discourse

“Imago Mundi”. An Overview of Metaphor: Creativity, Phraseology and Discourse

« Imago mundi ». Un regard sur la métaphore : créativité, phraséologie et discours

“Imago Mundi”. Ein Überblick über Metaphern: Kreativität, Phraseologie und Diskurs

«Imago mundi». Uno sguardo sulla metafora: creatività, fraseologia e discorso

«Imago mundi». Una mirada a la metáfora: creatividad, fraseología y discurso

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Published on Tuesday, February 06, 2024

Abstract

The guiding question of the conference will therefore be to try to specify the linguistic and conceptual functioning of the metaphor. More generally, the conference will welcome any contribution aimed at bringing out the relationships between metaphor and the three concepts in question: creativity, lexicalization and discourse. The analysis of metaphor can proceed from both a diachronic and synchronic perspective and address different types of corpora and texts. The conference will pay particular attention to the analysis of different types of discourse, in particular scientific, technological, media, tourism, advertising, political, legal, philosophical, historical, literary, artistic and educational/didactic discourse.

Announcement

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Università degli Studi di Cagliari Dipartimento di Lettere, Lingue e Beni Culturali, 9-11 May 2024

Organization

Organized with the support of the European Phraseology Association (EUROPHRAS), of the Do.Ri.F. association (Centro di Documentazione e Ricerca per la Didattica della Lingua Francese nell’Università Italiana) and the Project MED-GREEN. Examining Models of Local Livelihood, Green Building, and Sustainable Mobility in Mediterranean Areas through Discursive Negotiation and Active Citizenship.

Argument

Philosophers and linguists have always reflected on the centrality of metaphor in human thought. This long reflection has demonstrated, over the centuries, how important this notion is for the definition of the concepts, archetypes and models that populate daily life. The metaphor operates on everyday language to satisfy a stylistic pretext, a lexical inopia, to translate a series of creative processes that cross the threshold of the logical-inferential process.In this sense, the first step consists in taking note of the linguistic and cognitive dimension of the metaphor, pushing us to reflect on three elements that continually refer to each other: creativity, lexicalization and discourse.

The semantic tension of the word "creativity" reveals a demiurgic configuration that has been addressed by several philosophers. Plato, for example, clarifies this notion by selecting four dynamic mechanisms that play an essential role in the construction of the creative process: poiesis, mimesis, aisthesis and catharsis. In turn, Aristotle articulates his definition of creativity by extracting the idea of mental associations. Over the centuries, creativity has opened up to different perspectives: from the creative faculty of Vico to the creative genius of German Romanticism and, subsequently, of Kant; from Emersonian transcendentalism to Poincaré’s definition; from psychological approaches to Rosch’s prototypical approaches; from American cognitive approaches up to the neuropsychological perspective. The multiplicity of interpretative paths would suggest that creativity crosses both the linguistic and conceptual dimensions.

Starting from these considerations, we can delve deeper into the mechanisms of linguistic creation and the heuristic function of metaphor in the fields of terminology, lexicology and pragmatics. Furthermore, it would be interesting to examine the projections of epistemic correspondences that give rise to more active projections resulting from conventional metaphorical expressions (idioms, collocations, locutions, phrasemes, proverbs, pragmatemes, phonetic fixities, etc.); to less active metaphorical projections (e.g., delexicalized expressions); and to inactive metaphorical projections that produce creative expressions (i.e., neological constructions).Examining the mechanisms of understanding and interpreting metaphor could also play an essential role in clarifying the experiential, intentional and/or embodied dimensions of creativity.

Then, lexicalization reveals a mechanical tendency that regulates a large part of the linguistic system (Saussure, 1967 [1916]). Many researchers have paid attention to the semantic dimension of lexicalization, sometimes analyzing figurativeness (Gréciano, 1982) or conceptualization (Mejri, 1997 and 1998); other times, reflecting on particular aspects relating to semantics such as, for example, prototypicality (Kleiber, 1994), polysemy (Kleiber, 1999) or inference (R. Martin, 1976).We therefore set ourselves the objective of questioning phraseology, that is, the set of complex forms belonging to several syntactic categories that are more or less figurative. The emphasis will be placed on the gradual transformation from a figurative use to a more literal use and vice versa, trying to understand the mechanisms of adequacy, demetaphorization and metaphorization (Halliday, 1994: 348). At the same time, particular attention can be paid to the delexicalization of polylexical sequences and to re-metaphorization processes. Alongside the linguistic dimension of lexicalization and, again in this direction, we could also work on the crystallization of ideas occurring on the conceptual level.

Furthermore, the questioning of phraseology also mobilizes other concepts such as conceptual metaphor, motivation and analogy (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980 and 1999; Lakoff, 1987; Prandi, 1987 and 1992; Lakoff and Turner, 1989; Steen, 1994; Hofstadter et al., 1995; Gentner et al., 2001; Kövecses, 2001 and 2002; Dobrovol'skij and Piirainen, 2005; Steen et al., 2010; Monneret, 2014 and 2018; Rossi, 2015 and 2021; Paissa et al., 2020).

The third element on which we will try to reflect calls into question the discourse/discursive level, that is to say, "the place where the complex units of language are constantly formed and metamorphosed" (Fiala, 1987: 30). The use of phraseological units depends on the expressive freedom of the speaking subject and is located at the intersection between language and discourse (Benveniste, 1966; Bally, 1951 [1909]).

In this perspective, we want to focus on the analysis of metaphorical phraseological elements within discourses. We therefore underline the identification, understanding and functioning of a phraseosystem (González Rey, 2021), of the discursive configurations, of the fixed elements and of the metaphors circulating in different types of discourse, which guarantee the cohesion and coherence of a text and which participate in the transmission of information, implicitly or explicitly, and knowledge.

The guiding question of the conference will therefore be to try to specify the linguistic and conceptual functioning of the metaphor. More generally, the conference will welcome any contribution aimed at bringing out the relationships between metaphor and the three concepts in question: creativity, lexicalization and discourse.

The analysis of metaphor can proceed from both a diachronic and synchronic perspective and address different types of corpora and texts.The conference will pay particular attention to the analysis of different types of discourse, in particular scientific, technological, media, tourism, advertising, political, legal, philosophical, historical, literary, artistic and educational/didactic discourse.

Interventions may fall within the non-exhaustive scope of the following topics: metaphor and categorization in the lexicon; metaphor, synonymy and polysemy;metaphor and iconicity in lexicon, morphology and syntax; metaphor and linguistic change; metaphor and spontaneous linguistics (popular etymology); lexicalization and historical dimension; lexicalization, delexicalization and metaphors; metaphor, phraseology and discursive genres; metaphor, phraseology and translation; role of metaphor in the formation and development of concepts; neology and metaphor; specialized terminology and language; phraseology, metaphor and language teaching; phraseology, metaphor and teaching tools (e.g. grammars, dictionaries, manuals and corpora); historical dimension of lexicalization; phraseology and cognitive semantics; semantic motivation; construction grammars; role of cognitive mechanisms in teaching/learning phraseology; current research on metaphor and phraseology in cognitive psychology and semantics; metaphor and iconicity in texts.

Keynote speakers

  • Lorenzo Devilla (Università degli Studi di Sassari)
  • Elisabetta Gola (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • María Isabel González Rey (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
  • Micaela Rossi (Università degli Studi di Genova)
  • Gerard J. Steen (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
  • Maurizio Trifone (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)

Submission guidelines

Abstracts (in French, English, German, Italian or Spanish) must be sent to the following address: imagomundi2024@gmail.com

Website

  • Abstract submission deadline (max 3000 characters + references + a 5-line biography): 14 February 2024 

  • Response from the Scientific Committee: 31 March 2024 
  • Conference dates: 9, 10 and 11 May 2024 
  • Full article submission deadline: 15 September 2024 
  • Publication of full articles: February 2025

Registration fees

  • Early bird deadline: 5 April 2024, € 100  
  • Early bird deadline for EUROPHRAS and Do.Ri.F. association members: 5 April 2024, € 70,00  
  • Early bird deadline for PhD students and for participants from weak currency countries: 5 April 2024, € 40 
  • Full rate deadline: 09 May 2024, € 150 
  • Full rate deadline for PhD students and for participants from weak currency countries: 09 May 2024, € 90

Scientific Committee

  • Guy Achard-Bayle (Université de Lorraine)
  • Mariangela Albano (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Jana Altmanova (Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”)
  • Riccardo Badini (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Rym Bardaoui (Université de Tunis)
  • Annamaria Bartolotta (Università degli Studi di Palermo)
  • Francesca Boarini (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Federica Casadei (Università degli Studi della Tuscia)
  • Cristelle Cavalla (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
  • Jean-Pierre Colson (Université Catholique de Louvain)
  • Simona Maria Cocco (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Mirella Conenna (Università degli Studi di Bari - Aldo Moro)
  • Gianluca Cosentino (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Paola Cotta Ramusino (Università degli Studi di Milano)
  • Valérie Delavigne (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
  • Olga Denti (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Can Denizci (Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi)
  • Dmitrij Dobrovolskij (Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences)
  • Maria Grazia Dongu (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Ruggero Druetta (Università degli Studi di Torino)
  • Chiara Elefante (Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna)
  • Betül Ertek (Marmara Üniversitesi)
  • Natalia Filatkina (Hamburg Universität)
  • Oreste Floquet (Università degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza)
  • Eleonora Fois (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Enrica Galazzi (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano)
  • Michela Giordano (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Giulia Isabella Grosso (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Erla Hallsteinsdóttir (University of Aarhus)
  • Geneviève Henrot-Sostero (Università degli Studi di Padova)
  • Fiorenzo Iuliano (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Sabine Elisabeth Koesters Gensini (Università degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza)
  • Christine Konecny ​​(Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck)
  • Angela Daiana Langone (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Emma Lupano (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Francesco Paolo Alexandre Madonia (Università degli Studi di Palermo)
  • Ilaria Meloni (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Amel Mesli (ESMT, École Supérieure de Management Tlemcen)
  • Giuliano Mion (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Fabio Mollica (Università degli Studi di Milano)
  • Philippe Monneret (Sorbonne Université)
  • Michela Murano (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano)
  • Anis Nouaïri (Université de Tunis et Institut Supérieur des Études Appliquées en Humanités de Zaghouan)
  • Paolo Orrù (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Duygu Öztin (Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi)
  • Paola Paissa (Università degli Studi di Torino)
  • Antonio Pamies Bertrán (Universidad de Granada)
  • Fabio Parascandolo (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Rosario Pellegrino (Università degli Studi di Salerno)
  • Immacolata Pinto (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Ignazio Efisio Putzu (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Chiara Preite (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia)
  • Mario Selvaggio (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Maria Cristina Secci (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Faten Somai (Université de Tunis)
  • Kathrin Steyer (Leibniz-Institut für Deutsche Sprache)
  • Joanna Szerszunowicz (Uniwersytet w Białymstoku)
  • Massimo Tria (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Mark Turner (Case Western Reserve University)        
  • Agnès Tutin (Université de Grenoble)
  • Fabio Vasarri (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Antonino Velez (Università degli Studi di Palermo)
  • Daniela Francesca Virdis (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Daciana Vlad (Universitatea din Oradea)
  • Daniela Zizi (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)

Organizing committee

  • Mariangela Albano (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Simona Maria Cocco (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Olga Denti (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Eleonora Fois (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Michela Giordano (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Paolo Orrù (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)
  • Daniela Francesca Virdis (Università degli Studi di Cagliari)

 

Places

  • Piazza Arsenale, 1
    Cagliari, Italian Republic (09124)

Event attendance modalities

Full on-site event


Date(s)

  • Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Keywords

  • phraseology, metaphor, discourse

Contact(s)

  • Albano Mariangela
    courriel : imagomundi2024 [at] gmail [dot] com

Reference Urls

Information source

  • Albano Mariangela
    courriel : imagomundi2024 [at] gmail [dot] com

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« “Imago Mundi”. An Overview of Metaphor: Creativity, Phraseology and Discourse », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, February 06, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/vrex

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