A Multimodal Approach To Metaphor In Automotive Advertisements

Metaphor is not only pervasive in language but also in thoughts and actions. It is a way of thinking. Metaphor can be realized not only in language but also in other areas of human experience such as architecture, drawings, music, movies and advertising. In advertising discourse, language, pictorial design and music can all convey metaphorical meaning.This thesis, in cognitive linguistic paradigm, explores how verbal metaphor and nonverbal metaphor are manifested in automotive advertising. In verbal metaphor, entities familiar to us, and thereupon influence our perception of the target domain "CAR". In those metaphors, the motivation is primarily perceived similarity. In pictorial metaphor the motivation is often ad hoc similarity where the pictures are often creatively enlarged and bent. In multimodal metaphor, many visual, aural and verbal elements collaborate to create metaphors. The Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) can be represented in verbal mode, pictorial mode or multi modes. The study concludes that metaphor is a way of conceptualization. A better understanding of the process would be gained with a closer examination of non-verbal metaphors.