Emotion metaphors in James Joyce’s A Portrait of the artist as a young man

Abstract

Abstract Cognitive stylistics provides a framework for analysis of conceptual metaphors in literature, as a way to approach fictional characters’ mind styles. Here, cognitive linguistic tools are applied to characterize the metaphorical expressions of emotion in James Joyce’s A portrait of the artist as a young man. A number of conceptual metaphors were identified in relation to anger, lust, shame, pride, fear, happiness and sadness, among others. Creative uses of language came to light, both by means of novel conceptual mappings and original linguistic realizations of more conventional metaphors. Original expressions revealed aspects of mind style of the novel’s main character, particularly in relation to his struggle with negative emotions. For example, anger and resentment are conceptualized as a sort of covering that could be effortlessly detached from the body, while shame-related feelings are experienced as threatening floods. From a methodological perspective, this study illustrates the advantages of cognitive stylistic tools for the analysis of literary work.