A blending analysis of metaphors and metonymies used to depict the deal of the century by Jordanian cartoonists

Abstract

This study analyzes 30 cartoons depicting the Deal of the Century as envisaged by two Jordanian cartoonists. Conceptual Blending Theory (Fauconnier and Turner [2008, Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought, Cambridge University Press, 53–66]) and Multimodal Metaphor Theory (Forceville, 2008) are adopted as theoretical frameworks. The results reveal that the target domain the Deal of the Century was conceptualized mainly through layered metaphors that have metonymic basis and event metaphors/allegories. Five groups were identified: object or a situation involving objects, situations involving humans/hybrids of humans and objects, an animal or situation involving animal, hybrids of weapons and humans, and event metaphors used to build a story/allegory. The results demonstrate that the most widely used configuration to construe the metaphors was cross-modal of the type pictorial source–verbal target in line with Lan and Zuo (2016, Metaphor and the Social World 6, 20–51). This was probably due to the greater conceptual density and concreteness of visual representation as the target is better captured verbally because of its abstractness. In contrast, the source domains were mainly concrete and thus perceivable pictorially rather than verbally. The study mainly demonstrates the effect that metaphor and metonymy found in political cartoons can have on the perception of the target domain by the audience and by extension their attitude toward it.