PICTORIAL AND MULTIMODAL METONYMY IN POLITICAL NEWSPAPER DISCOURSE: THE CASE OF BREXIT REPORTS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46630/phm.14.2022.27Keywords:
pictorial metonymy, multimodal metonymy, political newspaper discourse, political cartoons, photographs, BrexitAbstract
This paper analyses several examples of pictorial and multimodal metonymy found in political cartoons and photographs related to the topic of Brexit and collected from the two British daily newspapers, The Guardian and The Telegraph. The first part of analysis deals with instances of pictorial metonymy, emphasising the importance of certain distinctive features such as colour, graphic representation, or photographic composition. The second part of analysis focuses on multimodal metonymy of the verbo-pictorial variety, particularly scrutinising the relationships between the two modes. Based on the different ways in which the pictorial and the verbal mode interact, the examples are classified into three separate categories: (1) image-dominant metonymy, (2) text-dominant metonymy, and (3) complementary metonymy. Furthermore, the analysis sheds some light on how these metonymies can form the basis of pictorial and multimodal metaphors, how several source and target concepts can be chained together within a single metonymy, and how metonymy in visual communication can also possess an indexical, rather than merely iconic character.
Downloads
References
BARTHES 1964/1977: BARTHES, Roland. Image–music–text. London: Fontana, 1964/1977.
BATEMAN 2014: BATEMAN, John. Text and image: A critical introduction to the visual/verbal divide. London/New York: Routledge, 2014.
BATEMAN, WILDEFEUER et al. 2017: BATEMAN, John, Janina WILDFEUER and Tuomo HIIPPALA. Multimodality: Foundations, research and analysis – A problem-oriented introduction. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110479898
BOUNEGRU & FORCEVILLE 2011: BOUNEGRU, Liliana, and Charles FORCEVILLE. “Metaphors in editorial cartoons representing the global financial crisis”. Visual Communication 10, 2 (2011): 209–229. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357211398446
CARROLL 1996: CARROLL, Noël. “A note on film metaphor”. Journal of Pragmatics 26, 6 (1996): 809–822. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(96)00021-5
COHN 2013: COHN, Neil. The visual language of comics: Introduction to the structure and cognition of sequential images. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472542175
EL REFAIE 2003: EL REFAIE, Elisabeth. “Understanding visual metaphor: The example of newspaper cartoons”. Visual Communication 2, 1 (2003): 75–95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357203002001755
EL REFAIE 2009: EL REFAIE, Elisabeth. “Metaphor in political cartoons: Exploring audience responses”. In: Forceville, Charles, and Eduardo Urios-Aparisi (eds.), Multimodal metaphor. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009, 173–196.
FENG 2017: FENG, William D. “Metonymy and visual representation: Towards a social semiotic framework of visual metonymy”. Visual Communication 16, 4 (2017): 441–466. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1470357217717142
FENG & O’HALLORAN 2012: FENG, Dezheng, and Kay L. O’HALLORAN. “Representing emotive meaning in visual images: A social semiotic approach”. Journal of Pragmatics 44, 14 (2012): 2067–2084. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2012.10.003
FORCEVILLE 1996: FORCEVILLE, Charles. Pictorial metaphor in advertising. London/New York: Routledge, 1996.
FORCEVILLE 2006: FORCEVILLE, Charles. “Non-verbal and multimodal metaphor in a cognitivist framework: Agendas for research”. In: Kristiansen, Gitte, Michel Achard, René Dirven and Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez (eds.), Cognitive linguistics: Current applications and future perspectives. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2006, 379–402.
FORCEVILLE 2009: FORCEVILLE, Charles. “Metonymy in visual and audiovisual discourse”. In: Ventola, Eija, and Arsenio Jesús Moya Guijarro (eds.), The world told and the world shown: Multisemiotic issues. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 56–74.
FORCEVILLE 2011: FORCEVILLE, Charles. “Pictorial runes in Tintin and the Picaros”. Journal of Pragmatics 43, 3 (2011): 875–890. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.014
FORCEVILLE 2020: FORCEVILLE, Charles. Visual and multimodal communication: Applying the relevance principle. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020.
GODIOLI & PEDRAZZINI 2019: GODIOLI, Alberto, and Ana PEDRAZZINI. “Falling stars and sinking ships: Framing and metaphor in cartoons about Brexit”. Journal of European Studies 49, 3–4 (2019): 302–323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047244119859167
HIDALGO DOWNING & KRALJEVIC MUJIC 2011: HIDALGO DOWNING, Laura, and Blanca KRALJEVIC MUJIC. “Multimodal metonymy and metaphor as complex discourse resources for creativity in ICT advertising discourse”. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 9, 1 (2011): 153–178. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.9.1.08hid
JAKOBSON 1956: JAKOBSON, Roman. “Two aspects of language and two types of aphasic disturbances”. In: Jakobson, Roman, and Morris Halle (eds.), Fundamentals of language. The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1956, 53–82.
JEWITT, BEZEMER et al. 2016: JEWITT, Carey, Jeff BEZEMER and Kay O’HALLORAN. Introducing multimodality. London/New York: Routledge, 2016. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315638027
KENNEDY, GREEN et al. 1993: KENNEDY, John M., Christopher D. GREEN and John VERVAEKE. “Metaphoric thought and devices in pictures”. Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 8, 3 (1993): 243–255. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327868ms0803_9
KLOEPFER 1977: KLOEPFER, Rolf. “Komplementarität von Sprache und Bild: Am Beispiel von Comic, Karikatur und Reklame” [Complementarity of language and image: The example of comics, caricatures and advertising]. In: Posner, Roland, and Hans-Peter Reinecke (eds.), Zeichenprozesse: Semiotische Forschung in den Einzelwissenschaften. Wiesbaden: Athenäum, 1977, 129–145.
KRALJEVIC MUJIC 2009: KRALJEVIC MUJIC, Blanca. “Linguistic and pictorial metonymy in advertising”. In: Valenzuela, Javier, Ana Rojo and Cristina Soriano (eds.), Trends in cognitive linguistics: Theoretical and applied models. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 2009, 13–28.
KRESS 2010: KRESS, Gunther. Multimodality: A social semiotic approach to contemporary communication. London/New York: Routledge, 2010.
LIN & CHIANG 2015: LIN, Tiffany Ying-Yu, and Wen-yu CHIANG. “Multimodal fusion in analyzing political cartoons: Debates on U.S. beef imports into Taiwan”. Metaphor and Symbol 30, 2 (2015): 137–161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2015.1016859
LITTLEMORE 2015: LITTLEMORE, Jeannette. Metonymy: Hidden shortcuts in language, thought and communication. Cambridge University Press, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107338814
MARÍN-ARRESE 2008: MARÍN-ARRESE, Juana I. “Cognition and culture in political cartoons”. Intercultural pragmatics 5, 1 (2008): 1–18. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/IP.2008.001
NEGRO ALOUSQUE 2014: NEGRO ALOUSQUE, Isabel. “Pictorial and verbo-pictorial metaphor in Spanish political cartooning”. Círculo de Lingüística Aplicada a la Comunicación 57 (2014): 59–84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/rev-CLAC.2014.v57.44515
NEGRO ALOUSQUE 2020: NEGRO ALOUSQUE, Isabel. “The metaphorical representation of Brexit in digital political cartoons”. Visual Communication Quarterly 27, 1 (2020): 3–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15551393.2019.1707084
NORRICK 1981: NORRICK, Neal R. Semiotic principles in semantic theory. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1981.
O’HALLORAN 2004: O’HALLORAN, Kay L. (ed.). Multimodal discourse analysis: Systemic functional perspectives. London/New York: Continuum, 2004.
PAGE 2010: PAGE, Ruth (ed.). New perspectives on narrative and multimodality. London/New York: Routledge, 2010.
PEIRCE 1902/1955: PEIRCE, Charles S. “Logic as semiotic: The theory of signs”. In: Buchler, Justus (ed.), Philosophical writings of Peirce. New York: Dover, 1902/1955, 98–119.
PEIRSMAN & GEERAERTS 2006: PEIRSMAN, Yves, and Dirk GEERAERTS. “Metonymy as a prototypical category”. Cognitive Linguistics 17, 3 (2006): 269–316. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/COG.2006.007
RADDEN & KÖVECSES 1999: RADDEN, Günter, and Zoltán KÖVECSES. “Towards a theory of metonymy”. In: Panther, Klaus-Uwe, and Günter Radden (eds.), Metonymy in language and thought. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1999, 17–59.
REDDY 1979: REDDY, Michael J. “The conduit metaphor: A case of frame conflict in our language about language”. In: Ortony, Andrew (ed.), Metaphor and thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979, 164–201.
RUIZ DE MENDOZA IBÁÑEZ & PÉREZ HERNÁNDEZ 2003: RUIZ DE MENDOZA IBÁÑEZ, Francisco J., and Lorena PÉREZ HERNÁNDEZ. “Cognitive operations and pragmatic implication”. In: Panther, Klaus-Uwe, and Linda L. Thornburg (eds.), Metonymy and pragmatic inferencing. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2003, 23–50.
SILAŠKI & ĐUROVIĆ 2019: SILAŠKI, Nadežda, and Tatjana ĐUROVIĆ. “The JOURNEY metaphor in Brexit-related political cartoons”. Discourse, Context & Media 31 (2019): 100318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2019.100318
SPERBER & WILSON 1995: SPERBER, Dan, and Deirdre WILSON. Relevance: Communication and cognition (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell, 1995.
SWEETSER 2017: SWEETSER, Eve. “Metaphor and metonymy in advertising: Building viewpoint in multimodal multi-space blends”. Journal of Pragmatics 122 (2017): 65–76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.10.012
TASIĆ & STAMENKOVIĆ 2015: TASIĆ, Miloš, and Dušan STAMENKOVIĆ. “The interplay of words and images in expressing multimodal metaphors in comics”. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 212 (2015): 117–122. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.308
TASIĆ & STAMENKOVIĆ 2017: TASIĆ, Miloš, and Dušan STAMENKOVIĆ. “Exploring pictorial runes in Luca Enoch’s comic book series Gea”. Facta Universitatis – Series: Linguistics and Literature 15, 2 (2017): 123–141. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22190/FULL1702123T
URIOS-APARISI 2009: URIOS-APARISI, Eduardo. “Interaction of multimodal metaphor and metonymy in TV commercials: Four case studies”. In: Forceville, Charles, and Eduardo Urios-Aparisi (eds.), Multimodal metaphor. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009, 95–117.
YU 2009: YU, Ning. “Nonverbal and multimodal manifestations of metaphors and metonymies: A case study”. In: Forceville, Charles, and Eduardo Urios-Aparisi (eds.), Multimodal metaphor. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2009, 119–143.
Sources
ADAMS 2016a: ADAMS, Christian. [Untitled Cartoon]. The Telegraph. 6 May 2016. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/04/30/telegraph-cartoons-may-2016/adams-cartoon-may-6
ADAMS 2016b: ADAMS, Christian. [Untitled Cartoon]. The Telegraph. 18 October 2016. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/09/30/telegraph-cartoons-october-2016/adams-cartoon-october-18
EU REFERENDUM 2106: “EU referendum: full results and analysis” [Graph]. The Guardian. 23 June 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2016/jun/23/eu-referendum-live-results-and-analysis
KITWOOD 2016: KITWOOD, Dan. [Untitled photograph]. The Guardian. 20 June 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2016/jun/20/leave-or-remain-the-impact-brexit-would-have-on-uk-jobs
LEAL-OLIVAS 2016: LEAL-OLIVAS, Daniel. [Untitled photograph]. The Guardian. 4 August 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/04/britain-tough-brexit-deal-voters-eu
MELVILLE 2016: MELVILLE, Toby. “Leave supporters cheer results at a Leave.eu party” [Photograph]. The Guardian. 24 June 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/brexit-reactions-tears-cheers-eu-referendum-uk
MORAN 2016: MORAN, Bob. [Untitled Cartoon]. The Telegraph. 24 July 2016. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/06/30/telegraph-cartoons-july-2016/bob-cartoon-july-24
STOTHARD 2016: STOTHARD, Rob. “Campaigners await the referendum results at the Royal Festival Hall in London” [Photograph]. The Guardian. 24 June 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/24/brexit-reactions-tears-cheers-eu-referendum-uk
VIERIA 2016: VIEIRA, Rui. [Untitled photograph]. The Guardian. 19 June 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/19/eu-referendum-result-polls-britain-europe#img-1
WILLIAMS 2016: WILLIAMS, Kipper. “Kipper Williams on Rolls-Royce’s EU referendum fears” [Cartoon]. The Guardian. 3 March 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/business/picture/2016/mar/03/kipper-williams-roll-royce-brexit-eu-referendum
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
