"Introduction" in Forceville & Urios-Aparis (eds), Multimodal Metaphor (De Gruyter 2009)
What is it about?
We briefly introduce each of the chapters in the volume, noting that the guiding principle running through the chapters is a consideration of which modes play a role in the identification and interpretation of the metaphors studied. Almost invariably, this entails taking into account the genre to which the discourse featuring a multimodal metaphor belongs: advertisements, political cartoons, comics, animation, musical compositions, oral conversations and lectures, feature films. A third recurring dimension is the extent to which a metaphor is not only embodied but also governed by the cultural or professional community in which it functions.
Why is it important?
This is the first book-length study on multimodal metaphor, a quickly developing branch of metaphor studies within the cognitivist paradigm.