Publications

Publication details [#12964]

Martínez R., Javier N., Sara Lía Segovia and Luciana H. Benditkis. 2017. La representación de la depresión profunda en el discurso y sus subyacentes mapeos innovadores. Discurso & Sociedad 11 (2) : 231–261. 31 pp. URL
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
Spanish
Keywords
Place, Publisher
Teun A. van Dijk
ISBN
18874606

Abstract

Discourse about depression says more about how that depression is conceptualized than how the subject is actually feeling. Conceptual metaphors used in real, spontaneous speech in real situations are often unconventional but are creative and show vivid imagery, as in DEPRESSION IS THE SHATTERING OF A STATUE and UNWANTED EMOTIONS ARE HUNGRY DOGS. This article deals with how negative emotions are expressed in natural written discourse by people going through depression. These people voluntarily posted their discourse on a website. We have used two important and compatible theories as the theoretical framework of our study: Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980), and Blending Theory (Fauconnier and Turner, 1998 & 2006). These two theories see metaphor as something cognitive, and one way it manifests itself is by means of language. Blending Theory, in addition,facilitates the study of new metaphorical conceptualizations involving emergent meanings. These conceptualizations do not come straight from a source domain but rather from integrating representational structures. Our view is that conventionalized representational structures, such as image schemas, conceptual metaphors and metonymies, are like tools that aid in the production and understanding of innovative metaphorical mappings. These mappings stem from the creative fusion of mental spaces and are supported and developed within a text. This article underscores the innovative potential of conceptual integration as a cognitive mechanism which can be used to help communicate ideas, images and evaluations in discourse.