Cover not available

Article published In: Metaphor and the Social World
Vol. 6:2 (2016) ► pp.304–325

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Mostafa Houssien’s Satan’s Family

Conceptual blending in a post-coup Egypt editorial cartoon

 | University of Lodz, Poland
Published online: 20 October 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.6.2.06abd
After the 2013 coup d’état in Egypt, the Egyptian media launched strenuous campaigns against the Muslim Brotherhood and the West. In this paper, I present a cognitive analysis of a multimodal text of a cartoon with labels, with the goal of gauging its social/political impact. Crucially, the cartoon ‘frames’ its message so strongly that even if the viewer is not a speaker of Arabic and all verbal elements in the cartoon are to be erased, he or she (with certain ‘general’ background knowledge) will probably be able to read its moral message. For the analysis, I employ Fauconnier and Turner’s (1998) conceptual blending theory. The analysis shows that metaphoric blends do not just surface in public discourse. Rather, they can have a strong influence on how people perceive political issues.
References (86)
Abdel-Raheem, A. (2013a, August 19). Framing the protester. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013b). Metaphor of the global financial crisis after 2008: Reconstructing confidence by Arab and Western financial medias. Sciences de la Société, 881, 161–182.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013c, May 20). The American frienemy. The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013d, August 17). US-Zionist-Muslim-Brotherhood conspiracy in Egypt? The Commentator. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2015). Messaging battles in the Eurozone crisis discourse: A critical cognitive study. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Lodz, Poland.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ackerman, S. (2013, August 15). Reluctance to suspend Egyptian aid exposes White House rudderlessness. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Al-Anani, K. (2014, August 14). The tragedy of Rabaa. Al-Jazeera. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bare, W. (2001). Do you still believe in the devil? Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beeman, W. (2008). The great Satan vs. the mad Mullahs: How the United States and Iran demonize each other. Chicago, IL: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bennis, P. (2003). Before and after: US foreign policy and the September 11th crisis. New York: Oliver Branch Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berberović, S. (2013). Magic tricks with race cards: Conceptual integration theory and political discourse. Jezikoslovlje, 14(2–3), 307–321.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Black, I. (2013). Furious Egyptians vent anger against western ‘conspiracies.’ The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Black, I., & Kingsley, P. (2013). Egypt: Resentment towards Brotherhood fuels crackdown support. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brandt, L. (2013). The communicative mind: A linguistic exploration of conceptual integration and meaning construction. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Burgers, C., Van Mulken, M., & Schellens, P.J. (2013). On irony, images and creativity: A corpus-analytic approach. In T. Veale, K. Feyaerts, & C.J. Forceville (Eds.), Creativity and the agile mind: A multidisciplinary approach to a multifaceted phenomenon (pp. 293–311). Berlin: Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Campbell, A., & Purcell, J. (1837). A debate on the Roman catholic religion. Cincinnati, OH: J. A. James & Co.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Charteris-Black, J. (2011). Politicians and rhetoric: The persuasive power of metaphor (2nd ed.). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chval, L. (2015, June 11). OITNB episode 2 recap: Who’s badder than bed bugs? Redeye. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cirlot, J. (1971). A dictionary of symbols. New York: Philosophical Library.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coulson, S. (1997). Semantic leaps: the role of frame-shifting and conceptual blending in meaning construction. Doctoral thesis. University of California San Diego.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2001). Semantic leaps: Frame-shifting and conceptual blending in meaning construction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2003). Reasoning and rhetoric: Conceptual blending in political and religious rhetoric. In E. Oleksy & B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Eds.), Research and scholarship in integration processes (pp.59–88). Lodz, Poland: Lodz University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). Conceptual blending in thought, rhetoric, and ideology. In G. Kristiansen & R. Dirven (Eds.), Cognitive linguistics: Current applications and future perspectives (pp. 187–210). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008). Framing and blending in persuasive discourse. In R.R. Favretti (Ed.), Frames, corpora, and knowledge representation (pp. 33–42). Bologna: Bononia University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coulson, S., & Oakley, T. (2000). Blending basics. Cognitive Linguistics, 111, 175–196.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). Purple persuasion: Conceptual blending and deliberative rhetoric. In J. Luchenbroers (Ed.), Cognitive linguistics: Investigations across languages, fields, and philosophical boundaries (pp. 47–65). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Creed, B. (1990). Phallic panic: Male hysteria and Dead Ringers . Screen, 31(2), 125–146 Retrieved from [URL]. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Curtis, M. (2010). Secret affairs: Britain’s collusion with radical Islam. London: Serpent’s Tail.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2011). Britain’s collusion with radical Islam. London: Serpent’s Tail.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Delbanco, A. (1995). The death of Satan: How Americans have lost the sense of evil. Washington Post. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
El-Nimnim, E. (2011). The Hassan el Banna whom nobody knows. Cairo: Madbouli Publisher.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G. (1994). Mental spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1997). Mappings in thought and language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G., & Sweetser, E. (Eds.). (1996). Spaces, worlds, and grammar. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (1998). Conceptual integration networks. Cognitive Science, 221, 133–187. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2000). Compression and global insight. Cognitive Linguistics, 11(3–4), 83–304.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2002). The way we think: Conceptual blending and the mind’s hidden complexities. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2003). Conceptual blending, form and meaning. Recherches en communication: Sémiotique Cognitive, 191, 57–86 Retrieved from [URL]. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). Conceptual integration networks. In D. Geeraerts (Ed.), Cognitive linguistics: Basic readings (pp. 303–372). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G. & Turner, M. (2008). The origin of language as a product of the evolution of human cognition. In B. Baks, S. Cleuziou, J.-P. Demoule & P. Encrevé (Eds.) Origin and evolution of languages: Approaches, models, paradigms. pp. 133–156. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ferguson, C.J. (2009). An effect size primer: A guide for clinicians and researchers. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 40 (5), 532–538. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Finnegan, S. (2002). Middle Eastern oil: A historical perspective and outlook. Free Public. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Forceville, C. (2004). Review of Fauconnier and Turner (2002). Metaphor and Symbol, 191, 83–89. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilliat-Ray, S. (2010). Muslims in Britain: An introduction. New York: Cambridge University press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldberg, J. (1997). Under the covers with Caliban. In D. Greetham (Ed.), The margins of the text (pp. 105–128). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grady, J., Oakley, T., & Coulson S. (1999). Blending and metaphor. In Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr., & Gerard J. Steen (Eds.), Metaphor in cognitive linguistics (pp. 101–124). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Harap, L. (1987). Creative awakening: The Jewish presence in twentieth-century American literature, 1990-1940s. New York & Westport: Greenwood. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hauslohner, A. (2014, March 18). Egypt’s ‘Military Inc’ expands its control of the economy. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hearst, D. (2013, August 20). Why Saudi Arabia is taking risk by backing Egyptian coup. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hudson, J. (2013, July 10). US now blamed for undermining and supporting Egypt’s coup. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kingsley, P. (2014a). Egyptian editor backtracks after saying ‘Americans will be killed in streets.’ The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2014b). Egypt’s Rabba massacre: One year one. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2014c). John Kerry ‘wanded’ by security guards at Egypt’s presidential palace. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirkpatrick, D. (2013). Hundreds die as Egyptian forces attack Islamist protesters. The New York Times. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kövecses, Z. (1990). Emotion concepts. New York: Springer-Verlag New York. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2005). Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2006). Language, mind, and culture: A practical introduction. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2010). Metaphor: A practical introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lakoff, G. (2004). Don’t think of an elephant: Know your values and frame the debate. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008). The political mind: Why you can’t understand 21st-century American policies with an 18th-century brain. New York: Viking.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landler, M. (2013, July 25). Aid to Egypt can keep flowing, despite overthrow, White House decides. The New York Times, p. A 101. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leiken, R., & Brooke, S. (2007, April). The moderate Muslim Brotherhood. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lerman, D., & Ratnam, G. (2014, April 24). US supplying Egypt with attack copters easing aid halt. Bloomberg News. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Louis, W. (1984). The British empire in the Middle East, 1945–1951: Arab nationalism, the United States, and postwar imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marshall, T. (2013). Egypt ‘conspiracies’ are paranoid and stupid. Sky News. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mitchell, R. (1969). The society of the Muslim Brothers. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Munson, Z. (2001). Islamic mobilization: Social movement theory and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood. The Sociological Quarterly, 42 (4), 407–510. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oakley, T. (2011). Conceptual integration. In J. Östman & J. Verschueren (Ed.), Handbook of pragmatics (pp. 1–24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pearson, R. (1988). UN cries ‘uncle.’ Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 5 (8), 36–39. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, D. (2013, July 8). White House sidesteps ‘coup’ questions as US continues aid to Egypt. The Guardian. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Russell, J. (1977). The Devil: Perceptions of evil from Antiquity to primitive Christianity. New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1988). The prince of darkness: Radical evil and the power of good in history. New York: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schink, C. (2005). Mythologia Fulgurales: On the history of lightning in mythology and Christianity. In S. Zielinski & M. Wagnermaier (Eds.), Variantology 1: On deep time relations of arts, sciences and technologies (pp. 59–80). Cologne, Germany: Verlag der Buchhandlung König.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sego, L. (2001). Philistines, Barbarians, Aliens, et alii: Cognitive semantics in political ‘otherness.’ In R. Dirven, R. Frank, & C. Ilie (Eds.), Language and ideology, (2nd ed.), (pp.107–116). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sharp, J. (2014, June 5). Egypt: Background and US relations. Congressional research service. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Slonim, S. (1998). Jerusalem in America’s foreign policy: 1947-1997. The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tadros, M. (2012). The Muslim Brotherhood in contemporary Egypt: Democracy redefined or confined? London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Turner, M. (1987). Death is the mother of beauty: Mind, metaphor, criticism. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1996). The literary mind. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2003). Double-scope stories. In D. Herman (Ed.), Narrative theory and the cognitive sciences (pp.117–142). Stanford, CA: CSLI. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2007). Conceptual integration. In D. Geeraetes & C. Hurberts (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of cognitive linguistics (pp. 377–393). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008). The mind is an autocatalytic vortex. In J. Schlaeger & G. Stedman (Eds.), The literary mind (pp.13–43). Tübingen, Germany: Gunter Narr Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2014). The origin of ideas: Blending, creativity, and the human spark. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Turner, M., & Fauconnier, G. (1999). A mechanism of creativity. Poetics Today, 20(3), 397–418. Retrieved from [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2003). Metaphor, metonymy and binding. In A. Barcelona (Ed.), Metaphor and metonymy at the crossroads: A cognitive perspective (pp.133–145). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

Boukhennoufa, Soussen & Hanane Saihi
2025. Multimodal blends and Israel’s genocide in Gaza: A critical cognitive study. Discourse & Society DOI logo
Abdel-Raheem, Ahmed
2020. Moral metaphor and gender in Arab visual culture: Debunking Western myths. Social Semiotics 30:5 ► pp. 715 ff. DOI logo
Abdel-Raheem, Ahmed
2021. The multimodal recycling machine: toward a cognitive-pragmatic theory of the text/image production. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics 12:3 ► pp. 207 ff. DOI logo
Abdel-Raheem, Ahmed
2024. The “menstruating” Muslim Brotherhood: taboo metaphor, face attack, and gender in Egyptian culture. Social Semiotics 34:2 ► pp. 151 ff. DOI logo
Abdel-Raheem, Ahmed
2024. The creative minds of Arab cartoonists: metaphor, culture and context. Text & Talk 44:2 ► pp. 141 ff. DOI logo
Forceville, Charles & Nataša van de Laar
2019. Metaphors portraying right-wing politician Geert Wilders in Dutch political cartoons. In Populist Discourse, ► pp. 292 ff. DOI logo

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.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue