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Metaphor, Metonymy, the Body and the Environment

Metaphor, Metonymy, the Body and the Environment

Metaphor, Metonymy, the Body and the Environment

An Exploration of the Factors That Shape Emotion-Colour Associations and Their Variation across Cultures
Jeannette Littlemore, University of Birmingham
Marianna Bolognesi, Università di Bologna
Nina Julich-Warpakowski, Universität Erfurt, Germany
Chung-hong Danny Leung, Hong Kong Metropolitan University
Paula Pérez Sobrino, University of La Rioja
July 2023
Available
Paperback
9781009045582
£18.00
GBP
Paperback
USD
eBook

    By exploring the associations that people make between emotions and colours, looking at how they vary across languages, and exploring the explanations that people provide for the associations that they make, this Element provides insight into the ways in which humans express emotions through colour, and the reasons why they do so. Metaphoric (and metonymic) language and thought play a key role on several levels in the formation of emotion–colour associations, interacting with physical, environmental and social factors. A strong metaphorical connection between the valence of the emotion and the lightness of the colours with which it is associated, and between the intensity of an emotion and the saturation level of the colours with which it is associated is found. However, the strength of this association varies according to the linguistic background of the speaker, and the gender in which the emotion is presented.

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… this monograph is essential reading for students and researchers interested in cognitive linguistics and cross-cultural studies, and is sure to inspire and guide scholars and practitioners in fields such as psychology, cultural studies, design, and art.' Yue Guan, Journal of Pragmatics

    See more reviews

    Product details

    July 2023
    Paperback
    9781009045582
    75 pages
    228 × 152 × 6 mm
    0.17kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. What are emotions and why do we associate them with colours?
    • 2. Methodology
    • 3. What are the strongest emotion-colour associations overall, and how do word-colour associations vary according to linguistic background?
    • 4. How do emotional valence and intensity map onto colour lightness and saturation, and how do these relationships vary according to the linguistic background of the participants and the gender of the prompt?
    • 5. What reasons do people provide for emotion-colour associations and how do these reasons vary according to linguistic background, the emotion being discussed, and the colour being selected? if an association is bodily-related is it more likely to be widely shared?
    • 6. General Conclusions
    • References.
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    Size: 359.94 KB
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      Authors
    • Jeannette Littlemore , University of Birmingham
    • Marianna Bolognesi , Università di Bologna
    • Nina Julich-Warpakowski , Universität Erfurt, Germany
    • Chung-hong Danny Leung , Hong Kong Metropolitan University
    • Paula Pérez Sobrino , University of La Rioja