Petición de contribuciones (revista)

Special Issue: Metaphor in language: creativity and cultural variation

Coords.:

- Elena Faur (Romanian Academy, Institute of Linguistics and Literary History "Sextil Pușcariu", Cluj-Napoca)

- Ciprian Speranza (Eikones, University of Basel)

The study of metaphor has experienced significant shifts in perspective over time. The exploration of its creative nature has deep roots in philosophical traditions, beginning with Aristotle and continuing through the European rhetorical tradition. This intellectual lineage includes contributions of scholars stemming from diverse epistemic traditions.

Drawing on the European tradition in the philosophy of language and culture, Coseriu (1956) defines metaphor as a particular kind of “knowledge through images” and he provides a wealth of examples from many languages. Nevertheless, Coseriu’s 1956 study has yet to receive the recognition it deserves. References to Coseriu’s treatment of metaphor typically are limited to a concise comment included in one of his articles on structural semantics (Coseriu 1967) rather than taking into account the extensive study from 1956. Although it has occasionally been simplified through selective interpretations, Coseriu’s approach emphasizes the creative dimensions of metaphor in language and cognition, offering interesting insights into its wider cultural significance. His study also marks an important step towards a “cognitive” perspective on language and metaphor through its emphasis on the ubiquity and significance of metaphor in ordinary language use, which is particularly notable given the rise of cognitive linguistics as a major research paradigm in the second half of the 20th century.

In international linguistics, the crucial role of metaphor in linguistic creativity shifts to the centre of attention after the publication of Lakoff & Johnson’s Metaphors we live by (1980/2003). Here, metaphor is reframed not merely as a well-crafted instantiation of language use or poetic device but as a core cognitive process that creates “new understandings [of things] and […] new realities” (1980/2003: 235). This redefinition placed metaphorical creativity at the forefront of interdisciplinary research, connecting language, cognition, and embodied experience. Conceptual Metaphor Theory emerged as a leading framework against which major research trends within cognitive linguistics, as well as those from related fields, have consistently oriented themselves over the past 50 years. As the field progressed, the initial universalist perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory gradually gave way to more socio-cultural as well as psycholinguistic approaches, with a focus on the ways metaphors are interpreted. Studies of the functional variation of metaphors across cultures (both with respect to conceptualization and usage) as well as their role in different, often polysemiotic communicative contexts have in turn revived the discussion about ‘the unity in diversity’ of metaphors across languages.

This special issue invites submissions that revisit and expand upon metaphoric creativity in language and its interactions with cultural variation, fostering a shared basis for advancing knowledge on the broader epistemic role of metaphors and its operationalization within diverse communicative settings. We welcome original theoretical and/or empirical research articles that investigate the creative process of metaphor, its deployment in various contexts, and its cultural variability. The thematic issue endeavours to contribute to a practical framework for the study of metaphoric knowledge, bridging (psycho)linguistic, cognitive, semiotic and cultural insights that enrich our understanding across disciplines.

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, German, or in a Romance language.

Unpublished original contributions and documents should be submitted taking into account the editorial guidelines. These will be evaluated anonymously by two independent reviewers. The authors will be contacted after the evaluation procedure and shall receive an evaluation report along with a request to revise their contribution if necessary.

• Submission deadline for forthcoming issue no. 10 (2025): June 1, 2025
• Peer Review Process Completion: September 15, 2025
• Online Publication: October 2025.

References

Coseriu, Eugenio (1956): “La creación metafórica en el lenguaje”, in: Revista Nacional (Montevideo), 187, 82-109.

Coseriu, Eugenio (1967): “Lexikalische Solidaritäten”, in: Poetica, vol. I, parte 3, München: Wilhelm Fink, 293-303.

Jansen S., Higuera Del Moral S., Barzen J., Reimann P., Opolka MM. (2021): Demystifying Bilingualism. How Metaphor Guides Research towards Mythification. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lakoff, George, Johnson, Mark (1980/2003): Metaphors we live by. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.

Di Paola, Simona, Domaneschi, Fillipo, Pouscoulous, Nausicaa (2020): “Metaphorical developing minds: The role of multiple factors in the development of metaphor comprehension”, in: Journal of Pragmatics, 156, 235-251.