METAPHORANDTHE POWER OF
STORYTELLING
A
Cognitive
Linguistic
Approach
Gerry
YokotaOsaka University

Question 1

Do yourecognize
this image?
Yes / No

Take a few minutes
to chat with a partner.
If you recognized
the image, discuss
what you thinkit has to do withtoday’s lecture theme.
If you didn’t
recognize it, guess!
If one of you recognized it
and one of you didn’t,
share what you know andbrainstorm together
about why you think
I chose it!

LIFE
IS A
JOURNEY
conceptual metaphor

THREE TYPES OF METAPHORS

conceptual
ontologicalorientationalLIFEIS A
JOURNEY
Figure removed due tocopyright restrictions.

Journeyto the West
Dragon Quest
Monster HunterLIFEIS A
JOURNEY
Figure removed due tocopyright restrictions.

Fate/ZeroKing Arthur
and the Knightsof the Round Table
with the Holy Grail
Buddha“Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination andthe rhetorical flourish—a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary
language.… Most people think they can get along perfectly wellwithout metaphor. We have found, on the contrary, that metaphor ispervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought andaction. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we boththink and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”George Lakoff & Mark Johnson
in Metaphors We Live By(1980/2003), p. 3

“Our ordinary conceptual system,in terms of which we both think and act,
is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.”

“Metaphor helps a speaker find ways to describe
themselves, their experiences and their feelings.”
Lynne J. Cameronin Metaphor and Reconciliation:
The Discourse Dynamics of Empathy in
Post-Conflict Conversations (2012), p. 40

ONTOLOGICAL METAPHORS

American society is…

Melting pot(Crucible)
MosaicSaladPatchworkquilt

The Rose
Lyrics: Amanda McBroom
Vocals: Bette Midler

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reedSome say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower, and you its only seedQuestion 2
Do you feel likeyou now understandat least the basic
difference between
conceptual andontological metaphors?

Yes / NoTWO MORE ONTOLOGICAL METAPHORSTHE MIND IS A CONTAINER&LIFE IS A THREAD

Kurozuka(Adachigahara)

http://the-noh.com/en/plays/photostory/ps_035.html 2020/5/21
Photos by Morita Toshiro
Performers: Suzuki Keigo, Sakai Otoshige, Hosho Kan

We AreOne Ok RockFigure removed due tocopyright restrictions.

When you're standingon the edge
So young and hopelessGot demons in your head
(We are, we are)No ground beneath your feet
Now here to hold you
Cause we are, we are
The colors in the dark

As I walked out thedoor toward the gatethat would lead to myfreedom, I knew if I
didn'tleave
mybitterness and hatredbehind, I'd still be inprison.
—Nelson Mandela

the-noh.com
Shimizu Kanji
Photo by Morita Toshiro

hakusho-kai.net
Sakai Otoshige

Figure removed due tocopyright restrictions.
Ghost in the Shell

Figure removed due tocopyright restrictions.

ORIENTATIONAL METAPHORS

happiness is up, sadness is down
heaven is above, hell is below

HAPPYby Pharrell Williams

If you feel like a room without aroof
Won’t let anybody bring me down

UPTOWN FUNK
by Mark Ronson
ft. Bruno MarsHEAVEN

hakusho-kai.net
Sakai OtoshigeHELL

Ukai: hakusho-kai.net,
Sakai Otomasa

Shunkan: Kanze Yoshimasa

KAGUYAHIME

Figure removed due tocopyright restrictions.

CULTURAL RELATIVITY

©Pixabay

Figure removed due tocopyright restrictions.

Question 3
Recall your favorite
song, poem or otherwork of art. Does it
contain any metaphors?

Yes / No

Thank You!
Enjoy
metaphorhunting!

Works Cited
Kramsch, C. (2010) The Multilingual Subject. Oxford University Press.
Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (2003) Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.
Yokota, G. (2015) Beyond the Binary: GALE Journal Interview with JALT2014 Plenary Speaker Gerry Yokota.
Journal and Proceedings of the Gender Awareness in Language Education (GALE) Special Interest
GroupoftheJapan
Associationfor
Language
Teaching,Vol.
8.
http://galesig.org/website/galejournalv8.pdf
Yokota, G. The Formation of the Canon of Noh: The Literary Tradition of Divine Authority. Osaka University
Press, 1997.
Yokota, G. (2018) Integration and the Power of Rhetorical Literacy. In Proceedings of the Japan in theWorld, the World in Japan Conference. Otemae University.
Yokota, G. (2017) The Thread of Life in the Rhetoric of Noh. In 交差するレトリック：精神と身体、メタファーと認知.
(Intersections of Rhetoric: Mind and Body, Metaphor and Cognition), ed. G. Yokota. Osaka University
Graduate School of Language and Culture.
ヨコタ, G. (2017) 伝統文化、アイデンティティ、そしてダイバーシティ (Traditional Culture, Identity, Diversity). In 英語教育徹底
リフレッシュ：グローバル化と21世紀型の教育 (English Education Thoroughly Refreshed: Globalization and 21stCentury Education), ed. Y. Imao et al. Kaitakusha.
ヨコタ, G. (2015) ジェンダー・リテラシーで文学を読み解く(How To Be a Gender Literate Reader). In ジェンダー・スタディーズ:
女性学・男性学を学ぶ (Gender Studies: Learning from Women’s Studies and Men’s Studies), ed. K. Muta.
Osaka University Press.