ABSTRACT

Figurative language has interested stylisticians, literary scholars, and linguists for a long time. The last thirty years of scholarship have brought about an interest in figurative language which also includes a study of the conceptualizations underlying figuration. One of the first, and most broadly discussed, figures in this context is conceptual metaphor (see Chapter 1).1 The conceptual approach now also includes a different mapping, known as conceptual integration (or blending). Both concepts have been used in general studies of linguistic meaning, but have also increasingly appeared in discussions of other aspects of language, and have become popular in cognitive discussions of visual artifacts, discourse genres, and also non-linguistic disciplines. Much of the extant literature does not make clear distinctions between the two conceptual explanations of meaning; also, analysts and students are often not sure how the two concepts are similar and different. An explanation is clearly needed. In what follows, I will outline some major features of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and Conceptual Integration/Blending Theory (CBT), often referred to simply as Blending Theory. I will also suggest practical ways in which the central concepts of a conceptual metaphor and a blend can be used in text analysis, and draw comparisons between them, also in the context of other forms of figurative language.