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Metaphor is pervasive in everyday communication. It is known to help people understand complex topics, communicate efficiently, and influence others. In this paper, we provide a review of the literature on the utility of metaphor, describing key findings and controversies while underscoring recent experimental and theoretical advances.
lenges the view that metaphor (and language in general) is merely a tool for expressing (literal) thought (e.g., Pinker, 2007). According to CMT, we can gain insight into underlying conceptual representations by observing how people use metaphors in normal communication. 2.1 | Critiques of CMT
May 9, 2019 · Metaphor is pervasive in everyday communication. It is known to help people understand complex topics, communicate efficiently, and influence others.
- Rely on Research.
- Introduce Metaphors Early—and explicitly.
- Extend Metaphors Over Time, Across Contexts, and Across Networks.
- Conclusion
Metaphors can powerfully affect understanding and opinions, but sometimes they work in ways we do not expect or foresee. A metaphor highlights things and hides others. Each comes with its own set of emphases and blind spots. We cannot reliably predict—based only on our own close-to-the-issue intuition—how large numbers of people will respond to a m...
Metaphors are more effective in social change communications than are other approaches. Explanatory metaphors help people make sense of a topic. If we introduce them early, they guide how people respond to the rest of the communication. However, we should avoid introducing distracting metaphors. For example, if we start by naming the issue—as is co...
For new ways of thinking to take root, we must continuously cultivate them. This involves repeating our ideas (without sounding repetitive) and engaging others in sharing and expressing those same ideas in their own way. Metaphors lend themselves to both consistency and creativity, so many communications professionals can use them without sounding ...
Metaphors are not only literary devices but also devices for thinking. They can put a picture in the public’s mind where none existed before—and they can reshape and update our shared mental images of social issues. When we use them wisely in our social change communications, we can amplify our impact. Explore the explanatory metaphors that FrameWo...
Future research is needed to illuminate when, why, and how emotional valence and arousal moderate the power of metaphor. 3.3 | Social‐pragmatic factors Because metaphors are typically deployed in a social communicative context, they are most effective when they draw on knowledge that is shared between speakers and listeners (see research on ...
- Stephen Flusberg, Teenie Matlock
Sep 20, 2021 · Metaphors have been widely used in communication about the Covid-19 pandemic. The virus has been described, for example, as an “enemy” to be “beaten,” a “tsunami” on health services ...
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Mar 17, 2016 · Modeling communication patterns by individuals and organizations dealing with institutional and social change is an important challenge for communication scholars. Metaphors provide frames of thinking about societal topics. The ways metaphors change can thus reveal how conceptualizations of social topics change over time. Change occurs in two ...
