An Exposition Of Multimodal Metaphors In Print Public Service Advertisements

“Metaphor is not only a figure of speech, but a mode of thought.”( Lakoff, 1993: 210) In our daily communication, metaphors exist everywhere. With the development of science and technology,multimodal media, non-verbal symbols play an increasingly significant role in our life. Metaphor not only manifests itself in language mode, but also manifests itself through other modes of communication such as picture, music, gesture, etc. Charles Forceville(2009), together with other scholars, has developed the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and proposed Multimodal Metaphor Theory.As a special type of advertising media, the print public service advertisements(PPSAs) aim at public benefits and don’t take profits as its purpose. In order to spread their ideas effectively, the advertisers take a way of multimodal presentation. Moreover, in order to achieve better persuasion effects, PSAs usually use a concrete thing to explain an abstract one and therefore they always contain rich metaphorical presentations. The multimodal metaphors in the PPSAs are constructed by two modes(text and picture). The interpretation of multimodal metaphors is inseparable from the analysis of the two modes.From the perspective of multimodality, on the basis of the conceptul metaphor theory and the multimodal metaphor, adopting the qualitative analysis, this thesis aims to study how to construe five kinds of multimodal metaphors(VPMs, MP1 s, the juxtaposed metaphor, the hybrid metaphor, the integrated metaphor) in the PPSAs, to analyze thefactors(context, encyclopedic knowledge and individual subjectivity,culture features) that impact our construal and then to set up a construal model; finally this thesis clarifies the persuasive functions of multimodal metaphors in the PPSAs.This thesis focuses on two questions:(1) How do we construe different kinds of multimodal metaphors in the PPSAs? What factors will influence their construal?(2) What are the cognitive pragmatic functions of the multimodal metaphors in the PPSAs and how do the multimodal metaphors perform their functions?The main findings of this thesis are generalized as follows:(1)Through a systematic study, this thesis once again certificates that metaphorical thinking is a common phenomenon in language, thought and action; the combination of picture and text can create novel metaphors;(2)The construal of multimodal metaphors is influenced by context, personal experiences and encyclopedic knowledge and cultural backgrounds.(3) The multimodal metaphors in the PPSAs enhance their persuasive effects.The theoretical and practical significance of the thesis are the following two points:(1)Based on the multimodal metphor theory, the thesis studies the multimodal metaphors which are composed of words and images, which demonstrates that the multimodal metaphor theory plays an important role in interpreting and analyzing novel metaphors in the form of multimodality.(2) The thesis is of great significance in spreading the idea and culture of the PPSAs by giving people a better interpretation on the multimodal metaphors in the PPSAs. What’s more,this thesis can also provide reference for similar studies in the future.