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Article published In: Aspects of Metaphor
Edited by Maria Theodoropoulou
[Review of Cognitive Linguistics 23:1] 2025
► pp. 59–89

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Special issue articles

An inclusive case study of multimodal metaphor

Embodied, cultural and ideological contexts of a labyrinth in the contemporary art discourse on refugee migration

 | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Published online: 12 November 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.00208.but
Abstract
This article provides a detailed analysis of multimodal metaphor by means of a case study which focuses on the contemporary art project, ‘Laboratory of Dilemmas’ (Venice Biennale 2017), by George Drivas. The analysis focuses on multimodal metaphors which instantiate the source concept of labyrinth, utilizing constructs from Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Critical Metaphor Analysis and Multimodal Metaphor Analysis within a more encompassing framework of Contemporary Art Criticism. The present study aims to define properties of multimodal metaphors, i.e. their forms, concepts and usage, reveal conceptualizations of both the creator and the spectators-analysts of a system of multimodal metaphors, and clarify key contexts, such as embodied, cultural, and ideological, which influence their production, comprehension, impact and analysis. According to the analysis proposed, the multimodal metaphors affect the spectators very deeply, engaging their mental, emotional, multisensory and bodily responses to ideological dilemmas that are prompted by the current refugee migration.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The data
  • 3.Conceptual Metaphor Theory and interdisciplinarity
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Analysis of the metaphors in ‘Laboratory of Dilemmas’
    • 5.1Previous discourses and the immediate context of the artwork
    • 5.2Embodied, cultural and ideological contexts
    • 5.3Labyrinthine constructions, moving bodies and pragmatic effects
  • 6.Reflections on inhospitable landscapes of meaning
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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