Dialogical functions of metaphors in medical interactions
-
Maria Grazia Rossi
Maria Grazia Rossi (PhD Universita di Messina, Messina, 2012) works as an invited auxiliary professor and postdoctoral researcher at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Her current research, in the fields of philosophy of language and healthcare communication, focuses on the role of metaphors as argumentative tools to foster patient understanding. She has worked on metaphors and emotions as reasoning and decision-making tools, especially in the medical and moral context. She has published a monograph, edited books and several papers in major international journals, e.g. Journal of Pragmatics, Health Communication, Frontiers in Psychology.
,
Fabrizio Macagno
Fabrizio Macagno (PhD UCSC, Milan, 2008) works as assistant professor of Philosophy and Communication at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He is author of more than 80 papers on definition, presupposition, argumentation schemes, and dialogue analysis, which have appeared in major international journals such as Journal of Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics, Argumentation, and Philosophy and Rhetoric. His most important publications include the books
Argumentation Schemes (2008, Cambridge University Press),Emotive Language in Argumentation (2014, Cambridge University Press), andInterpreting Straw Man Argumentation (2017, Springer).
und
Sarah Bigi
Sarah Bigi (PhD UCSC, Milan, 2007) works as an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Università Cattolica in Milan (Italy). Since 2008 she has been working on doctor–patient interactions and argumentative strategies in doctor–patient decision making. She has authored several papers on these subjects, published in international journals such as Journal of Pragmatics, Communication and Medicine, Frontiers in Psychology, Discourse Studies and Journal of Argumentation in Context. She has published the book,
Communicating (with) Care. A Linguistic Approach to Doctor–Patient Interactions (2016, IOS Press).
Abstract
This paper proposes a method for analyzing the dialogical functions of metaphors in communicative interactions, and more specifically in the context of medical interviews. The dialogical goals proposed and pursued by the interlocutors are coded using a coding scheme that captures seven mutually exclusive categories of dialogical moves. The functions of the moves, including metaphors, can be identified and correlated with other variables relevant to the type of communication under analysis. The coding scheme is used to analyze a corpus of 39 interactions between healthcare providers and patients affected by Type 2 diabetes. The exploratory quantitative analysis, for the purpose of determining the different distributions of metaphor uses between patients and providers, is combined with qualitative analysis in which the thematic areas of the metaphors are considered. The findings show how patients and providers use metaphors for pursuing different dialogical goals and meeting distinct communicative needs.
Funding source: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Award Identifier / Grant number: SFRH/BPD/115073/2016
Award Identifier / Grant number: PTDC/FER-FIL/28278/2017
About the authors
Maria Grazia Rossi (PhD Universita di Messina, Messina, 2012) works as an invited auxiliary professor and postdoctoral researcher at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Her current research, in the fields of philosophy of language and healthcare communication, focuses on the role of metaphors as argumentative tools to foster patient understanding. She has worked on metaphors and emotions as reasoning and decision-making tools, especially in the medical and moral context. She has published a monograph, edited books and several papers in major international journals, e.g. Journal of Pragmatics, Health Communication, Frontiers in Psychology.
Fabrizio Macagno (PhD UCSC, Milan, 2008) works as assistant professor of Philosophy and Communication at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He is author of more than 80 papers on definition, presupposition, argumentation schemes, and dialogue analysis, which have appeared in major international journals such as Journal of Pragmatics, Intercultural Pragmatics, Argumentation, and Philosophy and Rhetoric. His most important publications include the books Argumentation Schemes (2008, Cambridge University Press), Emotive Language in Argumentation (2014, Cambridge University Press), and Interpreting Straw Man Argumentation (2017, Springer).
Sarah Bigi (PhD UCSC, Milan, 2007) works as an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Università Cattolica in Milan (Italy). Since 2008 she has been working on doctor–patient interactions and argumentative strategies in doctor–patient decision making. She has authored several papers on these subjects, published in international journals such as Journal of Pragmatics, Communication and Medicine, Frontiers in Psychology, Discourse Studies and Journal of Argumentation in Context. She has published the book, Communicating (with) Care. A Linguistic Approach to Doctor–Patient Interactions (2016, IOS Press).
-
Research funding: This work was supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (research grants nos. SFRH/BPD/115073/2016 and PTDC/FER-FIL/28278/2017).
References
Allbritton, David W. 1995. When metaphors function as schemas: Some cognitive effects of conceptual metaphors. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 10(1). 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms1001_4.Suche in Google Scholar
Aristotle. 1991. Poetics. In Jonathan Barnes (ed.), The complete works of Aristotle, vol. II. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Bigi, Sarah. 2014. Healthy reasoning: The role of effective argumentation for enhancing elderly patients’ self-management abilities in chronic care. In Giovanni Riva, Paolo Ajmone Marsan & Claudio Grassi (eds.), Active ageing and healthy living: A human centered approach in research and innovation as source of quality of life, 193–203. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Black, Max. 1955. Metaphor. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, New Series 55. 273–294. https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian/55.1.273.Suche in Google Scholar
Bleakley, Alan. 2017. Thinking with metaphors in medicine: The state of the art. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315389448Suche in Google Scholar
Burgers, Christian, Elly A. Konijn & Gerard J. Steen. 2016. Figurative framing: Shaping public discourse through metaphor, hyperbole, and irony. Communication Theory 26(4). 410–430. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12096.Suche in Google Scholar
Cameron, Lynne. 2003. Metaphor in educational discourse. London, UK: Continuum.Suche in Google Scholar
Casarett, David, Amy Pickard, Jessica M. Fishman, Stewart C. Alexander, Robert M. Arnold, Kathryn I. Pollak & James A. Tulsky. 2010. Can metaphors and analogies improve communication with seriously ill patients? Journal of Palliative Medicine 13(3). 255–260. https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2009.0221.Suche in Google Scholar
Chiang, Emily & Tim Grant. 2019. Deceptive identity performance: Offender moves and multiple identities in online child abuse conversations. Applied Linguistics 40(4). 675–698. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amy007.Suche in Google Scholar
Deignan, Alice. 2005. Metaphor and corpus linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/celcr.6Suche in Google Scholar
Deignan, Alice. 2010. The evaluative properties of metaphors. In Graham Low, Zazie Todd, Alice Deignan & Lynne Cameron (eds.), Researching and applying Metaphor in the real world, 357–374. Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.10.1075/hcp.26.21deiSuche in Google Scholar
Demjén, Zsófia & Elena Semino. 2016. Using metaphor in healthcare: Physical health. In Semino Elena & Zsófia Demjén (eds.), Routledge handbook of metaphor and language, 385–399. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315672953Suche in Google Scholar
Ervas, Francesca, Elisabetta Gola & Maria Grazia Rossi. 2018. Argumentation as a bridge between metaphor and reasoning. In Steve Oswald, Thierry Herman & Jérôme Jacquin (eds.), Argumentation and language – Linguistic, cognitive and discursive explorations, 153–170. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-73972-4_7Suche in Google Scholar
Ervas, Francesca, Marcello Montibeller, Maria Grazia Rossi & Pietro Salis. 2016. Expertise and metaphors in health communication. Medicina & Storia 16(9–10). 91–108.Suche in Google Scholar
Ervas, Ervas, Francesca Maria Grazia Rossi, Amitash Ojha & Bipin Indurkhya. 2021. The double framing effect of emotive metaphors in argumentation. Frontiers in Psychology 12. 628460. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.628460.Suche in Google Scholar
Fauconnier, Gilles & Mark Turner. 2003. Polysemy and conceptual blending. In Brigitte Nerlich, Zazie Todd, Vimala Herman & David Clarke (eds.), Polysemy: Flexible patterns of meaning in mind and language, 79–94. Berlin, Germany, and New York, NY: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110895698.79Suche in Google Scholar
Gibbs, Raymond. 1992. When is metaphor? The idea of understanding in theories of metaphor. Poetics Today 13(4). 575–606. https://doi.org/10.2307/1773290.Suche in Google Scholar
Gibbs, Raymond. 2006. Metaphor interpretation as embodied simulation. Mind and Language 21(3). 434–458. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0017.2006.00285.x.Suche in Google Scholar
Goatly, Andrew. 2011. The language of metaphors. London, UK: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar
Jaszczolt, Kasia. 2002. Semantics and pragmatics: Meaning in language and discourse. Harlow, UK: Pearson.Suche in Google Scholar
Kilgarriff, Adam, Vít Baisa, Bušta Jan, Miloš Jakubíček, Vojtěch Kovář, Michelfeit Jan, Pavel Rychlý & Vít Suchomel. 2014. The Sketch engine: Ten years on. Lexicography 1(1). 7–36. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40607-014-0009-9.Suche in Google Scholar
Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Leech, Geoffrey. 1981. Semantics: The study of meaning. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio. 2008. Dialectical relevance and dialogical context in Walton’s pragmatic theory. Informal Logic 28(2). 102–128. 10.22329/il.v28i2.542.10.22329/il.v28i2.542Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio. 2020. How can metaphors communicate arguments? Intercultural Pragmatics 17(3). 335–363. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2020-3004.Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio & Sarah Bigi. 2017. Analyzing the pragmatic structure of dialogues. Discourse Studies 19(2). 148–168. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445617691702.Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio & Sarah Bigi. 2018. Types of dialogue and pragmatic ambiguity. In Steve Oswald, Jérôme Jacquin & Thierry Herman (eds.), Argumentation and language, 191–218. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.10.1007/978-3-319-73972-4_9Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio & Sarah Bigi. 2020. Analyzing dialogue moves in chronic care communication – Dialogical intentions and customization of recommendations for the assessment of medical deliberation. Journal of Argumentation in Context 9(2). 167–198. https://doi.org/10.1075/jaic.18044.mac.Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio & Maria Grazia Rossi. 2019. Metaphors and problematic understanding in chronic care communication. Journal of Pragmatics 151. 103–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2019.03.010.Suche in Google Scholar
Macagno, Fabrizio & Maria Grazia Rossi. 2021. The communicative functions of metaphors between explanation and persuasion. In Fabrizio Macagno & Alessandro Capone (eds.), Inquiries in philosophical pragmatics. Theoretical developments, 171–191. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.10.1007/978-3-030-56437-7_12Suche in Google Scholar
Naik, Aanand D., R. Teal Cayla, Elisa Rodriguez & Haidet Paul. 2011. Knowing the ABCs: A comparative effectiveness study of two methods of diabetes education. Patient Education and Counseling 85. 383–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2011.01.010.Suche in Google Scholar
Pragglejaz Group. 2007. MIP: A method for identifying metaphorically used words in discourse. Metaphor and Symbol 22(1). 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926480709336752.Suche in Google Scholar
Rapanta, Chrysi & Andri Christodoulou. 2019. Walton’s types of argumentation dialogues as classroom discourse sequences. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2019.100352, (Epub ahead of print).Suche in Google Scholar
Rossi, Maria Grazia. 2016. Metaphors for patient education. A pragmatic-argumentative approach applying to the case of diabetes care. Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio 10(2). 34–48.Suche in Google Scholar
Rossi, Maria Grazia. 2021. Metaphors and persuasion in healthcare communication. Langages 222(2). 1–18. https://doi.org/10.3917/lang.222.0059.Suche in Google Scholar
Rossi, Maria Grazia & Fabrizio Macagno. 2020. Coding problematic understanding in patient–provider interactions. Health Communication 35(12). 1487–1496. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1652384.Suche in Google Scholar
Searle, John. 2002. Consciousness and language. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511606366Suche in Google Scholar
Semino, Elena. 2008. Metaphor in discourse. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511816802.015Suche in Google Scholar
Semino, Elena, Zsófia Demjén & Jane Demmen. 2016. An integrated approach to metaphor and framing in cognition, discourse, and practice, with an application to metaphors for cancer. Applied Linguistics 39(5). 625–645. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amw028.Suche in Google Scholar
Semino, Elena, Zsofia Demjen, Andrew Hardie, Sheila Alison Payne & Paul Edward Rayson. 2018. Metaphor, cancer and the end of life: A corpus-based study. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315629834Suche in Google Scholar
Sopory, Pradeep & James Price Dillard. 2002. The persuasive effects of metaphor: A meta-analysis. Human Communication Research 28(3). 382–419. https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/28.3.38210.1111/j.1468-2958.2002.tb00813.x.Suche in Google Scholar
Ungerer, Friedrich & Hans-Jörg Schmid. 2006. An introduction to cognitive linguistics. Harlow, UK: Pearson.Suche in Google Scholar
Van Stee, Stephanie K. 2018. Meta-analysis of the persuasive effects of metaphorical vs. literal messages. Communication Studies 69(5). 545–566. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510974.2018.1457553.Suche in Google Scholar
Tay, Dennis. 2016. Using metaphor in healthcare: Mental health interventions. In Semino Elena & Zsófia Demjén (eds.), Routledge handbook of metaphor and language, 371–384. New York: Routledge.Suche in Google Scholar
Walton, Douglas. 1989. Informal logic. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Walton, Douglas. 1999. Dialectical relevance in persuasion dialogue. Informal Logic 19. 119–143. https://doi.org/10.22329/il.v19i2.2323.Suche in Google Scholar
Walton, Douglas. 2007. Dialogical models of explanation. In Homas Roth-Berghofer, Stefan Schulz, Daniel Bahls & David Leake (eds.), Explanation-aware computing, papers from the 2007 AAAI workshop, vol. 2007, 1–9. Menlo Park: AAAI Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Walton, Douglas. 2010. Types of dialogue and burdens of proof. In Pietro Baroni, Federico Cerutti, Massimiliano Giacomin & Guillermo Simari (eds.), Computational models of argument (COMMA), 13–24. Amsterdam, Netherlands: IOS Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Walton, Douglas & Erik Krabbe. 1995. Commitment in dialogue. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Full Length Articles
- Construction of a binary evaluative taxonomy within a story
- Deployment of I don’t know and wakannai in second language classroom peer discussions
- Discourse module in mind: a biolinguistical hypothesis of macro-structure
- Dialogical functions of metaphors in medical interactions
- Construction of risk in road safety advertising: a multimodal analysis of Vietnamese child helmet awareness advertisements
- The rhetorical structure of analytical writing: a developmental approach
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial
- Full Length Articles
- Construction of a binary evaluative taxonomy within a story
- Deployment of I don’t know and wakannai in second language classroom peer discussions
- Discourse module in mind: a biolinguistical hypothesis of macro-structure
- Dialogical functions of metaphors in medical interactions
- Construction of risk in road safety advertising: a multimodal analysis of Vietnamese child helmet awareness advertisements
- The rhetorical structure of analytical writing: a developmental approach
