OVERVIEW

This course introduces students to figurative language. The discussion of the main types of figures (metaphors, metonymies, etc.) from a theoretical linguistic perspective is followed by a reflection on the properties of figures in various genres and on their treatment in applicative fields such as translation, corpus linguistics, etc.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course aims to provide students with an overview of classical and more recent linguistic studies on figurative language, and to investigate some applicative issues, with a special attention for translation.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this course, the student will:

• Known the main classical and more recent linguistic approaches to metaphors and other figures
• Master the scientific terminology 
• Be able to independently investigate a topic of interest

TEACHING METHODS

The first part of the course is based on lectures, in which students will be invited to actively participate, for instance by analyzing the data and texts provided in class and made available in AulaWeb. In the second part, students will investigate topics which will be the object of either a short essay or of oral presentation and discussion.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The first part of the course consists of an introduction to figurative language. After an overview of figures of expression (rhythm, sound, etc.) and figures of content (metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron, etc.), we will focus on the latter, and especially on metaphors, which are not only common in literary texts, but are widespread in many other textual genres, as well as in our everyday language. Specific attention will be devoted to the theoretical and practical issues involved in the translation of metaphors. Moreover, we will investigate the role played by metaphors in fields such as advertising, politics, education, as well as in specialized language.    

The second part of the course is dedicated to the individual research conducted by the students (to be agreed with the lecturer). 

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Ervas, F. & Gola, E. (2016). Che cos’è una metafora, Roma: Carocci.

2) Prandi, M. & De Santis, C. (2019). La valorizzazione estetica della lingua: le figure. In M. Prandi & C. De Santis, Manuale di linguistica e di grammatica italiana, Torino: UTET, pp. 443-492.

3) Approx. 30 pages (students attending classes)/ Approx. 60 pages (students not attending classes) from the following studies (or from other studies discussed in class / to be agreed with the lecturer):

Black, Max. 1955. Metaphor. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society55(1). 273–294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/aristotelian/55.1.273

Deignan, Alice. 2008. Corpus linguistics and metaphor. In Raymond W. Jr. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, 280–294. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816802.018

Forceville, Charles. 2008. Metaphor in pictures and multimodal representations. In Raymond W. Jr. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, 462–482. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816802.028

Giora, Rachel. 2008. Is metaphor unique? In Raymond W. Jr. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, 143–160. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816802.010

Kövecses, Zoltán. 2016. Conceptual metaphor theory. In Elena Semino & Zsófia Demjén (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Metaphor and Language, 31–45. New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315672953.ch1

Low, Graham. 2008. Metaphor and education. In Raymond W. Jr. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, 212–231. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816802.014

Miller, Donna Rose & Enrico Monti (eds.). 2014. Tradurre Figure / Translating Figurative Language. Bologna: Centro di Studi Linguistico-Culturali (CeSLiC). Retrieved from http://amsacta.unibo.it/4030/

Musolff, Andreas. 2016. Metaphor and persuasion in politics. In Elena Semino & Zsófia Demjén (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Metaphor and Language, 309–322. New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315672953.ch21

Prandi, Michele. 2010. Typology of Metaphors: Implications for Translation. Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción3(2). 304–332.

Prandi, Michele. 2012. A plea for living metaphors: conflictual metaphors and metaphorical swarms. Metaphor and Symbol27(2). 148–170. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2012.667690

Rossi, Micaela. 2016. Pour une typologie des avatars métaphoriques dans les terminologies spécialisées. Langue française189(1). 87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/lf.189.0087

Semino, Elena & Gerard Steen. 2008. Metaphor in literature. In Raymond W. Jr. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, 232–246. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816802.015

Shen, Yeshayahu. 2008. Metaphor and poetic figures. In Raymond W. Jr. Gibbs (ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought, 295–308. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816802.019

Steen, Gerard. 2016. Identifying metaphors in language. In Elena Semino & Zsófia Demjén (eds.), The Routledge handbook of metaphor and language, 91–105. Routledge.

Strik Lievers, Francesca. 2016. Synaesthetic metaphors in translation. Studi e Saggi Linguistici54(1). 43–70.

Strik Lievers, Francesca. 2017. Figures and the senses: Towards a definition of synaesthesia. Review of Cognitive Linguistics15(1). 83–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/rcl.15.1.04str

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

MICHELE PRANDI (President)

FRANCESCA STRIK LIEVERS (President)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

Lessons start, semester 2:

Thursday 1 March 2018

Thursday  12 - 14

Class schedule

APPLIED LINGUISTICS

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Oral exam, which includes:

1. Discussion of the topic that has been the object of the student’s independent investigation. Students who attended classes may replace this part with a presentation given in class, or with a brief discussion of their essay (to be sent to the lecturer two weeks before the exam at the latest). Students who did not attend classes should contact the lecturer well in advance of the date of the exam, to agree on the topic to be investigated.

2. Questions on the other topics that have been discussed in class or in the course’s readings 

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam assesses the level of theoretical knowledge achieved by the student, and the ability to discuss in a critical way both the classes’ topics and the topic of the individual research.

The evaluation also takes into account the student’s communicative abilities, and in particular his or her expressive clarity and mastery of the specialised terminology.

Exam schedule