Search results for "Metaphor"
showing 10 items of 271 documents
La metafora della guerra e il coronavirus. Osservazioni sulla carriera della metafora.
2021
Il dibattito pubblico sul coronavirus è stato caratterizzato dall’uso pervasivo della metafora della guerra. Fin dall’inizio la concettualizzazione della pandemia nei termini di guerra è stata tematizzata da giornalisti e linguisti che nehanno messo in luce i limiti. In questo articolo tematizzerò questo dibattito,discutendo l’appropriatezza della metafora bellica per concettualizzare lapandemia. Sosterrò, rifacendomi a Dedre Gentner che si tratta di una metafora che funziona finché restainconsapevole e, pertanto, la massiccia operazione di tematizzazione, porta inevitabilmente ad una perdita dei suoi egfetti perlocutivi.
The dialogics of metaphor and simile in Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September
2013
Metaphors and similes characterise Elizabeth Bowen’s writing. Despite frequent claims that this contributes to the lexical, grammatical and syntactic irregularities of her style and hence makes her writing difficult to understand, I show that her metaphors, similes and literal descriptions in a selected passage from The Last September function within conventional linguistic structures. While my analysis of metaphors and similes is conducted with reference to Bakhtin’s essay “Discourse in the Novel”, I use Martin and Rose’s model of Discourse Analysis (2007) and Steen’s study of metaphor in literature (1999) as practical tools for my analysis of the text. I discuss how ‘dialogic’ linguistic …
Las tecnologías de reproducción asistida y sus metáforas
2005
The enormous development -in both research and application- of assisted reproduction technologies has been accompanied by a lack of theoretical reflection on its power of change: the concept and treatment of the body, the concept of paternity or motherhood, etc.The metaphorical analysis allows us to deconstruct both dominant discourses: patriarchal and reductionist biomedical. We propose a transdisciplinary analysis which explains the interactions between the diverse discourses: biomedical, mass media, legal, symbolicpsycho-social, gender, historic- which make up the supply as well as the creation of demand of all these practices. The transdisciplinary analysis would help to reveal the biom…
“Never Some Easy Flashback”
2012
Abstract This paper provides a close reading of Paul Farley’s 160-line poem, “Thorns.” The poem is read in dialogue with William Wordsworth’s celebrated Romantic ballad “The Thorn.” Special attention is given to Farley’s treatment of memory and metaphor: It is shown how the first, exploratory part of the poem elaborates upon the interdependent nature of memory and metaphor, while the second part uses a more regulated form of imagery in its evocation of a generational memory linked to a particular place and time (the working-class Liverpool of the 1960s and 1970s). The tension between the two parts of the poem is reflected in the taut relationship between the poet and a confrontational alter…
The moving self in life, art, and community mental health: 12 propositions
2010
I argue here for the primacy of movement (Sheets-Johnstone, 1999) in both the organisation of the self and in social relationships. This means that movement is not simply important because it offers all of us (including psychiatric patients) better physical fitness, but because it is fundamental to the organisation of the individual person and her social matrix. It is therefore not simply an adjunct to life, art, and mental health but also the core of all three spheres.
Exploring theoretical frameworks for the analysis of fertility fluctuations
1988
The Easterlin theory, popular during the 1970s, explained population fluctuations in terms of maximization of choice, based on the evaluation of previously acquired information. Fluctuations in procreational patterns were seen as responses to conflict between 2 consecutive generations in which the propensity to procreate is inversely related to cohort size. However, the number of demographic trends not directly explainable by the hypothesis imply that either the model must be extended over a longer time frame or that there has been a drastic change of regime, i.e., a basic change in popular attitudes which determine decision making behavior. 4 strategic principles underlie reproductive deci…
Under Our Eye: Margaret Atwood's Variation on the Panopticon in "The Heart Goes Last"
2020
In her dystopian dark comedy The Heart Goes Last (2015), Margaret Atwood openly refers to Jeremy Bentham’s concept of the Panopticon. The future world depicted in her novel is filled with violence and deprived of both human bonds and hope. Hence, being contained, monitored and — after Foucault — disciplined and punished appears to be the characters’ last resort. Surveillance tempts both sexes as it is politically correct and universal, and it does not privilege one group of people over the other. The article discusses the dystopian vision of the near future as created by Atwood in her 2015 novel, with direct references to the conception of the Panopticon, both in its original meaning propos…
Metaphorical Competence in Italian EFL students: an Empirical Study
2018
A quantitative data analysis conducted on 230 Italian EFL students revealed that their metaphorical competence (MC) is inappropriate. In view of these findings, the development of MC, as crucial as linguistic and communicative ones, is fostered as a successful didactic methodology to improve the proficiency in the target language (TL).
THE USE AND THE SHIFT OF METAPHORS IN ADR
2014
This study on the use and shift of metaphors in alternative dispute resolutions aims to consider the clever use of conceptual metaphors among the linguistic competences that are desirable for mediators working in Europe under the provisions of the Directive 2008/52. The interest in developing the role of metaphors in influencing the resolution of disputes has called for a multidisciplinary approach that will focus on the studies carried out by experts in Cognitive Linguistics, Legal Pragmatics, Law and Mediation matters. Part I presents the claims made by Cognitive Linguistics on what a conceptual metaphor is and how it works in both every day and specialized language; Part II deals with th…
An upper echelons perspective on information technology business value
2017
This paper argues that information technology (IT) outcomes are more valuable to companies when their top management team (TMT) moves from flirting with IT to marriage. Previous research has demonstrated an association between top management support (TMS) and IT value. We extend the concept of TMS with the imbrication metaphor to define the construct of TMT-IT imbrication, which allows us to account for a tighter and continuous entwining of the TMT and IT to create IT value. Our definition of the TMT-IT imbrication construct embraces four dimensions: involvement, participation, attention, and use. In addition, with the support of upper echelons (UE) theory, we explore certain managerial tra…