A Cognitive Metaphorical Study On The Expressive Functions Of Print Public Service Advertising

Using the print public service advertising as the examples, the thesis makes the cognitive metaphorical study on how the construction of images and the construal of metaphors fulfill the expressive functions to inform, shape and change the knowledge, attitudes and the behaviors of the public, and suggesting that the dissimilarities between the verbal and the visual modes result from differences regarding what the two modes are able to express easily and efficiently.Drawing on Kress & van Leeuwen’s visual grammar, the images are analyzed in terms of visual contact, social distance, perspective and modality to fulfill the interactive function of the print public service advertising. With the framework of the cognitive metaphor theory, the examples are to be explored how the construal of the metaphors reinforces the functions of information, correlation, mobilization, transmission and entertainment. The comparative analysis appears to indicate that the visual mode and the verbal one tend to produce the different effects and impacts in conveying the feelings, attitudes and actions.Productive findings are derived from the analysis of the print public service advertising. Firstly, the visual mode tends to be more suitable than verbal mode to the task of conveying attitudes and provoking fears and anxieties in the viewer in a highly implicit way, and then it may be easier to arouse the awareness of the public. In addition, the verbal mode of communication is better at expressing actions so as to mobilize the public to shape and change the behaviors towards the issues involved and even influence the people around.Through the analysis of the examples, the present study validates the applicability and the practicability of the theories in conveying the expressive functions of the print public service advertising. Besides, the thesis appears to provide a relatively detailed study on the expressive functions of the print public service advertising, in the hope of enriching the study on this field and aiding the potential deployment in the design of the advertising.