Cognitive processing of a complex visual metaphor: a conceptual integration theory approach
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2617-3921.2025.27.114-123Keywords:
complex visual metaphor, Conceptual Integration Theory, single- scope conceptual network, integrative blendAbstract
Analysis of visual metaphors from the perspective of cognitive methodology represents an important and debated direction in contemporary cognitive linguistics. The article explores the connections between the way of depicting domains in visual metaphor and its cognitive processing within a single-scope conceptual blending network. The aim of the article is to propose an algorithm for analyzing complex visual metaphors from the perspective of Conceptual Integration Theory, focusing on the relationship between visual and conceptually integrated structures. In this context, attention is paid to identifying the type of visual metaphor as an identification based on the manner and degree of visualizing its domains, as well as the type of conceptual network as single- scope, determining the way the metaphor is cognitively processed. Processes of conceptual integration are analyzed within each of the two metaphors constituting a complex diptych metaphor, namely the EGO (ego-worldview) – TRIANGLE and ECO (eco-worldview) – CIRCLE metaphors. Elements and relationships within the frames that structure the input spaces of TRIANGLE and CIRCLE are identified and blended to fill the frame structures of EGO and ECO. The article examines how elements for mappings are marked by the visualization specifics of geometric shapes and their content, grounded in associated symbolic meanings. The study also analyzes elements of the generic space, including orientational image-schemas and the conventional conceptual metaphor BEING SUBJECT TO CONTROL is DOWN. In the complex metaphor, vital relations of Identity (one Planet Earth) and Disanalogy (visualization of Earth in different forms, configurations, and contents) are identified, linking input mental spaces.Conceptual processes occurring in the integrative blend of the complex metaphor at its composition, completion, and development stages are justified. Future research prospects include the development of an integrative methodology for analyzing visual metaphor that combines the achievements of Relevance Theory, Conceptual Integration Theory, and Conceptual Metaphor Theory.
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