2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors
-
Eliecer Crespo-Fernández
Abstract
Given the crucial role of metaphor in the conceptualization of sexual issues (Kovecses 1988; Zeve 1993; Pizarro Pedraza 2013; Crespo-Fernandez 2015), this paper aims to gain an insight into the social and communicative functions that metaphors on homosexuality perform in discourse, with special attention to the conceptualization of verbal mitigation and offence, on a sample of metaphors touching on homosexual issues taken from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Following a cognitively based approach to figurative language based on Steen’s (2011) discourse-analytical model, homosexual-related metaphors are conceived not only as a matter of language but also as a matter of thought which have a communicative impact and serve a particular purpose in discourse. Evidence from the corpus reveals that metaphor is used for a range of communicative functions which correspond to different axiological categories of taboo naming: to provide a socially acceptable reference to homosexuality and avoid offence (euphemism); to degrade homosexuals as people who do not conform to traditional gender roles (dysphemism); and to display group solidarity or direct the reader’s attention towards the homosexual topic in discussion (quasi-euphemism).
Abstract
Given the crucial role of metaphor in the conceptualization of sexual issues (Kovecses 1988; Zeve 1993; Pizarro Pedraza 2013; Crespo-Fernandez 2015), this paper aims to gain an insight into the social and communicative functions that metaphors on homosexuality perform in discourse, with special attention to the conceptualization of verbal mitigation and offence, on a sample of metaphors touching on homosexual issues taken from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Following a cognitively based approach to figurative language based on Steen’s (2011) discourse-analytical model, homosexual-related metaphors are conceived not only as a matter of language but also as a matter of thought which have a communicative impact and serve a particular purpose in discourse. Evidence from the corpus reveals that metaphor is used for a range of communicative functions which correspond to different axiological categories of taboo naming: to provide a socially acceptable reference to homosexuality and avoid offence (euphemism); to degrade homosexuals as people who do not conform to traditional gender roles (dysphemism); and to display group solidarity or direct the reader’s attention towards the homosexual topic in discussion (quasi-euphemism).
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword V
- Table of contents IX
- List of contributing Authors XI
- Introduction 1
- 1. Lexicon, discourse and cognition: terminological delimitations in the conceptualizations of linguistic taboo 13
-
Part I: Construal
- 2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors 35
- 3. Metonymy-based euphemisms in war-related speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama 55
- 4. Ambiguity and vagueness as cognitive tools for euphemistic and politically correct speech 79
-
Part II: Cultural Conceptualization
- 5. Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept 99
- 6. Taboo subjects as insult intensifiers in Egyptian Arabic 117
- 7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian 141
- 8. A Cognitive Linguistics approach to menstruation as a taboo in Gĩkũyũ 161
- 9. The socio-cognitive aspects of taboo in two cultures: A case study on Polish and British English 179
- 10. The influence of conceptual differences on processing taboo metaphors in the foreign language 201
-
Part III: Cognitive Sociolinguistics
- 11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? 225
- 12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals 245
- 13. The perception of the expression of taboos: a sociolinguistic study 269
-
Part IV: Interdisciplinary Approaches
- 14. Scrupulosity, sexual ruminations and cleaning in Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder 293
- 15. Swearing as emotion acts 311
- Index 329
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Foreword V
- Table of contents IX
- List of contributing Authors XI
- Introduction 1
- 1. Lexicon, discourse and cognition: terminological delimitations in the conceptualizations of linguistic taboo 13
-
Part I: Construal
- 2. The axiological and communicative potential of homosexual-related metaphors 35
- 3. Metonymy-based euphemisms in war-related speeches by George W. Bush and Barack Obama 55
- 4. Ambiguity and vagueness as cognitive tools for euphemistic and politically correct speech 79
-
Part II: Cultural Conceptualization
- 5. Old age revolution in Australian English: Rethinking a taboo concept 99
- 6. Taboo subjects as insult intensifiers in Egyptian Arabic 117
- 7. Emotion concepts in context: Figurative conceptualizations of hayâ ‘self-restraint’ in Persian 141
- 8. A Cognitive Linguistics approach to menstruation as a taboo in Gĩkũyũ 161
- 9. The socio-cognitive aspects of taboo in two cultures: A case study on Polish and British English 179
- 10. The influence of conceptual differences on processing taboo metaphors in the foreign language 201
-
Part III: Cognitive Sociolinguistics
- 11. Why do the Dutch swear with diseases? 225
- 12. Calling things by their name: Exploring the social meanings in the preference for sexual (in)direct construals 245
- 13. The perception of the expression of taboos: a sociolinguistic study 269
-
Part IV: Interdisciplinary Approaches
- 14. Scrupulosity, sexual ruminations and cleaning in Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder 293
- 15. Swearing as emotion acts 311
- Index 329
