Metaphor and Creativity in British Magazine Advertising
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2005:42 DOCTORAL T H E SI S Metaphor and Creativity in British Magazine Advertising Carita Lundmark L L I M S Linguistics in the Midnight Sun Luleå University of Technology Department of Languages and Culture 2005:42|: 402-544|: - -- 05⁄42 -- Carita Lundmark Metaphor and Creativity in British Magazine Advertising Do, do, do, let your heart decide what you have to do that’s all there is to find ’Cause it takes a fool to remain sane Ola Salo, The Ark i Lundmark, Carita (2005) Metaphor and Creativity in British Magazine Advertising. Doctoral dissertation no 2005:42. Department of Languages and Culture, Luleå University of Technology. Abstract This thesis is a cognitive linguistic study of the various ways in which conceptual metaphor and related cognitive processes are exploited for creative purposes in advertising texts and accompanying images. The focus is on the elaboration of conventional metaphors and their use as a creative basis, rather than on their mere identification, and although the textual content forms the starting point, significant attention is also paid to the interplay between text and image. The material consists of advertisements collected from British magazines between the years 1996 and 2002, and is classified into four main categories according to how the metaphorical content is signalled in the advertisement. These categories include polysemous words, idiomatic expressions, metaphorical expressions and metaphor reflected in the combination of text and image. Detailed qualitative analyses of representative advertisements selected from each category are made using tools provided by both conceptual metaphor theory and blending theory, which are seen as complementary theories in line with Grady et al. (1999). Special consideration is given to the roles played by the textual and pictorial components and the complex conceptual structures that are constructed around the metaphorical centre. Advertisements centred around entrenched cases of metaphor (polysemous words, idiomatic expressions) often rely on puns and ambiguity for their creative effect. This is also the case with less entrenched, but still conventional metaphoric expressions, which also tend to draw on the corresponding non-metaphorical meaning. Apart from the effect of humour or wit, the underlying conventional metaphor is also reactivated and exploited in order to build an argument about the product. The creativity in advertisements where the metaphor is reflected in the combination of text and image, or throughout the text as opposed to an individual word or phrase, typically involves a reconceptualisation of the product. This is achieved by making the product form the target of a novel metaphor, but crucially, this novel metaphor still relies on a conventional metaphor for its construction and interpretation. Keywords: cognitive linguistics, English, metaphor, metonymy, conceptual blending, advertising, creativity, text-image relations, idioms, polysemy, ambiguity, puns, entrenchment, salience, humour ii Carita Lundmark Metaphor and Creativity in British Magazine Advertising iii The printing of this volume has been funded by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Luleå University of Technology. Copyright © the author Cover Illustration: The logo of the research program Linguistics in the Midnight Sun at the Department of Languages and Culture. Editing and computer typesetting: Ulf Magnusson Printed in Sweden by the Printing Office of Luleå University of Technology iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Metaphor and creativity in advertising 1 1.2 Aim and scope 3 1.3 Material and method 5 1.4 Advertising terminology 8 1.5 Typographic conventions 8 CHAPTER 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 9 2.1 Introduction 9 2.2 A cognitive view of language and meaning 10 2.3 Metaphor 11 2.3.1 The basics of conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) 11 2.3.2 Background 13 2.3.3 A closer look at conceptual metaphor 15 2.3.4 Novel metaphor 18 2.4 Metonymy 20 2.5 Conceptual blending 23 CHAPTER 3. METAPHOR IN ADVERTISING: 37 PREVIOUS STUDIES 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Semiotic approaches 38 3.3 General linguistic approaches 44 3.4 Cognitive linguistic approaches 54 CHAPTER 4. POLYSEMOUS WORDS 64 4.1 Introduction 64 4.2 Polysemy in a cognitive linguistic view 66 4.3 Humour and conceptual blending 75 4.4 Puns and ambiguity 78 4.5 Polysemous words: type I 83 4.5.1 Persil 83 4.5.2 Financial Times Weekend 86 4.5.3 Galaxy Caramel 89 4.6 Polysemous words: type II 93 4.6.1 Moulinex 93 4.6.2 Cover Girl 98 4.6.3 Garnier Fructis 101 v CHAPTER 5. IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS 104 5.1 Introduction 104 5.2 What is an idiom? 104 5.3 Idioms in a cognitive linguistic view 107 5.4 Extended idioms 114 5.4.1 Comfort Refresh 114 5.4.2 PNC tele.com 118 5.4.3 Scholl 120 5.5 Altered idioms 123 5.5.1 Libresse Bodyform 123 5.5.2 Focus 127 CHAPTER 6. CONVENTIONAL METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS 130 6.1 Introduction 130 6.2 Ambiguous metaphorical/literal expressions 131 6.2.1 Friskies 131 6.2.2 Evian 134 6.3 Elaborated metaphorical expressions 138 6.3.1 Lexus 139 6.3.2 Motilium 142 6.4 Combined metaphorical expressions 145 6.4.1 Vaseline Intensive Care 146 6.4.2 Heinz Weight Watchers 148 CHAPTER 7. NOVEL CONCEPTUALISATIONS 152 7.1 Introduction 152 7.2 Text and image 153 7.3 Novel conceptualisations in text and image 157 built around a single word 7.3.1 Tampax 158 7.3.2 Canesten 164 7.3.3 Minolta 168 7.4 Novel conceptualisations in text and image 173 7.4.1 Jacob’s 173 7.4.2 Toshiba 177 7.5 Novel conceptualisations mainly in the text 181 7.5.1 Bausch & Lomb 182 CHAPTER 8. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 186 Works cited or referred to 194 vi Acknowledgements This thesis could never have been written without the people around me, and now it is my turn to thank them all. First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Ulf Magnusson, my supervisor, for taking a very serious interest in my work from the day he arrived at the department. I have been deeply inspired by his energy and enthusiasm, and I applaud his initiative to create a cognitive linguistic research group and setting up the LIMS project, of which this thesis forms a part. I greatly appreciate all the encouragement he has given me, and his help, support and understanding have been invaluable, especially in the final hectic stages of my work. I am also immensely grateful to Professor Emeritus Gunnar Persson, initially my supervisor and later assistant supervisor, for first suggesting that I should consider doctoral studies during my days as an undergraduate student, and for constant support and encouragement thereafter. He was the one who first guided me in the direction of cognitive linguistics, and if it were not for him, my circles and lines would have been trees, and I would have missed out on a very stimulating field of research. This experience would not have been nearly as rewarding without the company of Dr Marlene Johansson-Falck, my sister in arms, who deserves my special thanks. Her profound interest in cognitive linguistics has been a real inspiration, and I have benefitted greatly from the many stimulating discussions we have had, both during our seminars and late at night over the phone. What first began as a working relationship soon developed into a personal friendship, and I cannot imagine what it would have been like without your support and positive attitude. Many thanks also to Assistant Professor Anders Steinvall at the Department of Modern Languages at Umeå University for taking an interest in my work and for encouraging me. I owe much appreciation to Knut and Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse for awarding me a generous two-year scholarship, and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Luleå University of Technology for later giving me a two-year doctoral post, for which I am greatly indebted. Without this financial support, I would never have been able to finish my work. I am also very grateful to the Department of Languages and Culture at Luleå University of Technology for offering me many teaching opportunities, which gave me invaluable experience and made me a better linguist. I also want to thank my colleagues for friendly greetings whenever I came into the department and for enquiring about my progress, and my fellow doctoral students for taking an interest in my work and for always being ready to give a helping hand in practical matters. vii They say you are nothing without your friends, so on a more personal note, I would first like to thank Tina Jonsson, for 29 years of friendship so far, for which there is no equivalent. You truly helped me get my mind off work when it was most needed and our many lunch dates provided welcome breaks. I also want to specially thank Anna Sjölund, who I got to know as an undergraduate at Umeå University, and who has remained one of my best friends despite the geographical distance that is now between us. You are always there at the other end of the phone, discussing dinner plans and making me laugh. And I guess the fact that you happen to be a professional counsellor hasn’t done any harm either! I am very grateful to Jonna Wilén for endless chats over cups of coffee, for long walks together, and above all for knowing what it is like. You also sent plenty of translation and language revision work my way during periods when I lacked funding, which was invaluable to me. As custom dictates, I have saved the most important people for last.