In:Metaphor in Specialist Discourse:
Edited by J. Berenike Herrmann and Tony Berber Sardinha
[Metaphor in Language, Cognition, and Communication 4] 2015
► pp. 53–76
Metaphors in psychology genres
Counseling vs. academic lectures
Published online: 16 December 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/milcc.4.03beg
https://doi.org/10.1075/milcc.4.03beg
This chapter analyzes metaphor use in specialist discourse by comparing anger
and love metaphor use in experts in the domain of psychology in two different
genres, online counseling and academic lectures. The study is based on two
small-scale corpora that comprise written and spoken language and were compiled
for an exploratory investigation. The analysis of linguistic and conceptual
metaphors in the discourse contexts in which the metaphors are used brings
out interesting differences in the experts’ metaphor use for love and anger
between the two genres. I argue that these differences are probably due to the
distinctive groups of participants as well as the different discourse structures
and goals in the psychology genres, online counseling and academic lecturing.
References (29)
Angus, L., & Kormann, Y. (2002). Conflict, coherence and change in brief psychotherapy: A metaphor theme analysis. In S.R. Fussel (Ed.), The verbal communication of emotions (pp. 151–167). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Beger, A. (2011a). ANGER, LOVE and SADNESS revisited: Studying emotion metaphors in authentic discourse between experts and laypersons. Flensburg: Flensburg University Press.
. (2011b). Emotion metaphors: Differences in discourse between experts and laypersons. In D. Schönefeld (Ed.), Converging evidence: Methodological and theoretical issues for Linguistic Research (pp. 319–348). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. (2011c). Deliberate metaphors? An exploration of the choice and functions of metaphors in US-American college lectures. Metaphorik.de, 20, 39–61.
Blow up. (2014). Retrieved April 7, 2014, from [URL]
Corts, D.P., & Pollio, H.R. (1999). Spontaneous production of figurative language and gesture in college lectures. Metaphor and Symbol, 14(2), 81–100.
Goatly, A. (2007). Washing the brain – metaphor and hidden ideology. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Kövecses, Z. (1988). The language of love: The semantics of passion in conversational English. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press.
. (2000). Metaphor and emotion: Language, culture, and body in human feeling. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
. (1993). The contemporary theory of metaphor. In A. Ortony (Ed.), Metaphor and thought (pp. 205–251). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Lakoff, G., & Kövecses, Z. (1987). Case study 1: Anger. In G. Lakoff (Ed.), Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind (pp. 380–415). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Low, G., Littlemore, J., & Koester, A. (2008). Metaphor use in three UK university lectures. Applied Linguistics, 29(3), 428–455.
McMullen, L.M., & Conway, J.B. (2002). Conventional metaphors for depression. In S.R. Fussel (Ed.), The verbal communication of emotions (pp. 167–183). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Mittelberg, I. (2008). Peircean semiotics meets conceptual metaphor: Iconic modes in gestural representations of grammar. In A.C.C. Müller (Ed.), Metaphor and gesture (pp. 115–154). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Pragglejaz group. (2007). MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically used words in discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 22(1), 1–39.
Ritchie, D. (2003). “ARGUMENT IS WAR” – Or is it a game of chess? Multiple meanings in the analysis of implicit metaphors. Metaphor and Symbol, 18(2), 125–146.
Soriano, C.M. (2004). The conceptualization of anger in English and Spanish. A cognitive approach. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Murcia, Murcia.
Steen, G. (2007). Finding metaphor in grammar and usage: A methodological analysis of theory and research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. (2011). Genre between the humanities and the sciences. In M. Callies, W.R. Keller, & A. Lohöfer (Eds.), Bi-directionality in the cognitive sciences: Avenues, challenges, and limitations (pp. 21–42). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Steen, G., Dorst, A.G., Herrmann, J.B., Kaal, A., Krennmayr, T., & Pasma, T. (2010). A method for linguistic metaphor identification: From MIP to MIPVU. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Cited by (4)
Cited by four other publications
Smedinga, Marthe, Alan Cienki & Henk W. de Regt
2023. Metaphors as tools for understanding in science communication among experts and to the public. Metaphor and the Social World 13:2 ► pp. 248 ff.
Egg, Markus
2020. To those walking in the footsteps of the faith. In Drawing attention to metaphor [Figurative Thought and Language, 5], ► pp. 229 ff.
[no author supplied]
[no author supplied]
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
