Pictorial Metaphor in Advertising / Edition 1

by Charles Forceville

Overview

Over the past few decades, research on metaphor has focused almost exclusively on its verbal and cognitive dimensions. In Pictorial Metaphor in Advertising, Charles Forceville argues that metaphor can also occur in pictures and draws on relevant studies from various disciplines to propose a model for the identification, classification, and analysis of 'pictorial metaphors'. By using insights taken from a range of linguistic, artistic and cognitive perspectives for example, interaction and relevance theory, Forceville shows not only how metaphor can occur in pictures, but also provides a framework within which these pictorial metaphors can be analyzed.
The theoretical insights are applied to thirty advertisements and billboards of British, French, German and Dutch origin. Apart from substantiating the claim that it makes sense to talk about ‘pictorial metaphors', the detailed analyses of the advertisements suggest how metaphor theory can be employed as a tool in media studies. Context in its various manifestations plays a key role in the analyses. Furthermore, the results of a small-scale experiment shed light on where general agreement about the meaning of a pictorial metaphor can shade over into other more idiosyncratic but equally valid interpretations. The final chapter sketches the ways in which the insights gained can be used for further research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415128681
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/21/1995
Pages:	244
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Charles Forceville is Lecturer in the Department of English, also affiliated to the Department of Comparative and Empirical Literature at the Free University in Amsterdam.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction 2 Max Black’s interaction theory of metaphor 3 Towards a theory of pictorial metaphor: Relevant studies 4 Advertising: Word and image and levels of context 5 Communicator and addressee in the advertising message: Relevance theory perspectives 6 Pictorial metaphor in advertisements and billboards: Case studies 7 Individuals’ responses to three IBM billboards: An exploratory experiment 8 Closing remarks

Editorial Reviews

Forceville (English, Free U. of Amsterdam) presents a compelling argument toward a new theory of "pictorial metaphor" using, primarily, the work of Max Black and Roland Barthe as a springboard for his investigation into modern advertisement. The development of his theoretical model leads him into discussions of verbal metaphor, word and image relations, relevance theory, and case studies of advertisements, as well as an exploratory experiment of individuals' reactions to IBM billboards. Includes black and white photographs. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'Forceville's Pictoral Metaphor in Advertising provides stimulating insights into the ways that metaphors are manipulated pictorally as a means of selling products ... It is precisely this kind of study, in which metaphor is viewed as a phenomenon in everyday life, that is most exciting.' - Journal of Sociolinguistics

'Forceville's book on metaphor in pictures is by far the most comprehensive examination of the topic.' - The Semiotic Review of Books

From the Publisher