The age old question of whether language constructs reality or merely describes it has long been the source of scientific controversy. The study of metaphor finds itself in the middle of this discussion since metaphor can be argued to illustrate the very core of the matter with its attempt to explain reality in terms of what it is not. This thesis taps on to this discussion by addressing the use of metaphor in organizational context and by exploring how organizational metaphors might affect knowledge management in general and knowledge sharing in particular. CEO-letters from two Swedish organizations form the basis for exploring the potential of metaphor in organizational context. By using metaphor analysis the use of everyday linguistic expressions based on metaphorical thinking is mapped and translated into potential conceptual metaphors. Drawing upon theories within knowledge management these metaphors are then further explored in regard to the aspects they promote and hide in relation to knowledge management and knowledge sharing. Four themes are constructed based on identified potential conceptual metaphors: Journey, Competition, Wholes and parts and Personification. These themes are suggested to have the potential to influence both organizational culture and organizational identity as well as the propensity of its members to participate in knowledge initiatives. The findings in this thesis are not argued to offer groundbreaking new theories or directions. What they might contribute is a reminder to pay attention to the metaphors that construct our thoughts, whether in science or in organizational context.

As the 2016 Brexit referendum was an election largely decided by the use of language, there was merit in examining how the Leave campaign had managed to be successful. Therefore, this study asks how one of the leave campaign's main figure heads, Boris Johnson, used metaphors to frame the relationship between Britain and the EU. In addition, the ascribed conceptual role of each party was investigated. To determine this, the metaphorical framing in a pivotal speech was examined by using conceptual metaphor theory. Firstly, several linguistic metaphors were identified by using an established metaphor identification process. After careful analysis, two separate patterns in these metaphors were found and subsequently, suitable conceptual metaphors were suggested. The one relating to the relationship between Britain and the EU was proposed as AUTONOMY IS FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT. In other words, there were several linguistic metaphors exhibiting the conceptual pattern that the EU restricted Britain's freedom of movement and that this described the more abstract notion of Britain's lack of autonomy. Thus, in his speech, Boris Johnson conveyed the idea that there was an imbalance of power weighted in favour of the EU. The second conceptual metaphor, which denotes the role of the EU, was proposed as THE EU IS A MACHINE. This implies that the EU is an emotionless, non-sentient and thoughtless operation that does not inspire warmth or a sense of belonging. This pattern was not as solid as the restriction of movement pattern but other, corroborating, evidence was found. Finally, the role of Britain in the speech was not referred to using metaphors but by personal pronouns, first-person plural. This achieves the opposite effect to the conceptual metaphor THE EU IS A MACHINE. Hence, by repeatedly using we and us when referencing Britain, Boris Johnson humanises the country as he tries to foster a group feeling, a sense of togetherness. These findings highlight how politicians use the tools of linguistics to influence the electorate. Britain's unexpected exit out of the European Union had a huge impact on millions of people so it is crucial to understand how the Leave campaign had managed to swing the vote in their favour. This study shines a light on some of the techniques used to win the referendum.

This diploma thesis deals with the topic of metaphorization of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their representation in common online media. The aim of the diploma thesis is to examine aspects of the relationship between metaphors and autism spectrum disorder. In terms of metaphor theory, it is based on cognitive linguistics and its approach to conceptual metaphor. The thesis lists the most common metaphors that are used in connection with autism spectrum disorders whereas the distinction between neurotypical and autistic metaphors is made. Then, it deals with medialization of autism spectrum disorders and presents possibilities of categorization of the way ASD is written about in common online media. Finally, the thesis discusses the overall problematics of metaphorization of autism spectrum disorders and possibilities of changes in the way they are represented.

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This thesis examines written autism info materials from web searches and autism expertrecommendations across Germany, Sweden, and the US. Making use of Conceptual MetaphorTheory and Critical Discourse Analysis, the different materials were analyzed with the help of codeschemes by marking down conceptual metaphors and other ideological words. The most commonmetaphors, and alternatives, with their implications for the view on autism, as well as the influenceof the Neurodiversity Movement pushing for a paradigm shift on autism, were analyzed. The mainfindings include the capitalist ideology causing autism to be seen as deficits to be cured through theconceptualization of autists as dysfunctional machines in need of fixing which is made possiblethrough turning autism into a concrete object situated in a human container. This allows theassumption that it is possible to remove ‘the autism’ from its container without altering it. However,especially in expert-recommended sources, the neurodiversity paradigm which aims to shift awayfrom a pathological perspective is finding more foothold which challenges the classical medicalparadigm dominating autism discourses. / Den här kandidatuppsatsen undersöker informationsmaterial om autism från webbsökningar ochautismexperters rekommendationer från Sverige, Tyskland och USA. Uppsatsen använder sig avConceptual metaphor theory och kritisk diskursanalys för att undersöka de främst förekommandemetaforer och de underliggande ideologier samt som implikationer dessa synsätten på autism har.Dessutom undersöker kandidatuppsatsen ett eventuellt pågående paradigmskifte, neurodiversitets-paradigmet, som inte ser på autism som en sjukdom utan en naurligt förekommande funktions-variation. De mest väsentliga resultaten innefattar hur kapitalistiska ideologier legitimerar kon-ceptualiseringen av autism som en sjukdom som ska botas. Det möjliggörs genom att se autismsom ett konkret objekt som finns inne i en mänsklig behållare och därmed går att ta bort. Dockbörjar neurodiversitetsparadigmet att utmana det hegemoniska synsättet på autism som en sjukdom,särskilt i informationsmaterial som rekommenderas av expterter.

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Through a direct application of two cognitive science theories, conceptual metaphor (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999) and structure mapping (Gentner, 1983, 1989; Gentner & Markman, 1995), this project defined an instructional design model for the design, development, and assessment of metaphor-enhanced, computer-mediated learning environments. It used the model to produce an instructional product with a metaphor-based interface. The project also built a parallel learning environment that employed a concept map interface. To test the metaphor-based product's effectiveness at enabling learners to build rich mental models of a complex, abstract concept, the project ran fifty-seven preservice teachers (55 female, 2 male; mean age of 21) through the instruction, randomly assigning half to the concept map interface environment and half to the metaphor-based interface environment. Participants completed four essay-type assessment questions. Trained raters, blind to participant assignment, isolated any of the 13 targeted concepts present within participants' protocols and, through consensus, constructed a concept map for each participant, representing that participant's mental model of the targeted domain. Map attributes were translated into four weighted subscores (nodes, branches, levels, and cross-links) and summed. Comparison across the two groups indicated no significant difference for richness of mental model, t(55)=-.72, p > .05, although the discussion suggests methods for increasing the power in subsequent experimental sessions. A significant interaction between Subscore and Achievement, F(3,51)=33.42, p < .01, suggests that concept map cross-links are much more sensitive to differences in domain integration and the general richness of a participant's mental model than the level and branch subscores. This result has implications for classroom application. Concept maps have taken a place as a learner's, a teacher's, and a researcher's tool. With cross-domain validation and domain-specific extensions, specification of the relative sensitivity of various subscales, that is, the structure of the concept map, will enable educators to justify weighting scales and identify learner achievement. Credible concept map weighting scales also enhance learners' self-reliant and impartial assessment of personal growth in domain-specific knowledge. Results suggest that learners who have difficulty integrating domain concepts require direct, explicit instruction to help them to make connections between disparate conceptual strands. / Ph. D.

The translation of metaphors has been analyzed and discussed for several decades, but there are not many multilingual studies that examine how metaphors are translated. The present study takes a cognitive approach to metaphor and investigates how translators at the European Commission handle metaphorical expressions and the underlying conceptual metaphors in political discourse. The source text is the English language version of the policy document A European Agenda on Migration, and the Swedish and Spanish language versions of it are included as target texts. The study identifies the conceptual metaphors that conceptualize migration and other topics that are closely related to the European migrant and refugee crisis of 2015 and the translation procedures that are used. A total of six translation procedures were found in the target texts, and the most used procedure in the Spanish target text was to retain both the conceptual metaphor and the metaphorical expression, whereas the most used procedure in the Swedish target text was to replace the metaphorical expression with a completely different one and thereby using a different conceptual metaphor. The parallel analysis of all three language versions also revealed that non-metaphorical expressions in the source text were occasionally replaced with metaphorical expressions in the target texts, which proves that adding a conceptual metaphor is one of many translation procedures. The most frequently used source domains in the source text, i.e. water, enemy and applied force, were transferred to both target texts. Some source domains were eventually lost, but a couple of new ones, such as disease and weight, were added instead.

The novel Agaat by Marlene van Niekerk is a highly complex text. One of the most compelling aspects of the novel is the way in which the author constructs an underlying metaphorical grid which determines the composition of the novel. The motives in the novel cannot be regarded merely as motives because specific prominent and powerful metaphors are continually exploited by variation and extension. The complicated relationship between narrative and metaphor on different levels is of great importance in the interpretation of the novel. Due to the complexity of the text, the dominant metaphors cannot be analyzed in the traditional manner. In this study I want to demonstrate that conceptual blending theory, which can be regarded as a branch of conceptual metaphor theory, offers a theoretical framework that can be used to understand the underlying cognitive functioning of the interaction between author, text and reader. This dissertation will examine the processes of blending shaped from the mottos posted at the beginning of the novel. The three mottos, the music motto, the embroidery motto and the farming motto, act throughout the novel as a backdrop against which events in the novel can be interpreted. The blending formed from these mottos merge with other metaphors in the novel in order to generate meaning. The three mottos were taken from the introductions of the FAKVolksangbundel, the embroidery book Borduur so and the Hulpboek vir boere in Suid-Afrika. The three books are used by Milla to educate and teach Agaat. She uses the books to "create" Agaat and to mould her into the person that Milla wants her to be. The mottos stress the uplifting of the people and the creation of a true Afrikaner identity. Agaat accomplishes everything that the books require of her, she becomes an expert in the areas that determine the Afrikaner identity. However, as a brown woman, she is still not considered a member of community or as a fully acceptable civilized woman. The meanings of the other important metaphor in the novel, the mirror metaphor, are also investigated extensively. The mirror plays an important role in the relationship between Milla and Agaat. The mirror is also important in Milla's confrontation with herself, especially in her experience of her illness and her acceptance of her imminent death. The mirror is also used in the depiction of the relationship between characters and the experience of each other as the "Other". The blending of the mirror metaphor and the link that can be established with the theories of Lacan are part of one of the main blendings formed from the mirror metaphor. This metaphor also interacts with the embroidery metaphor. The mirror reflects images to the characters and via the characters to the readers which enforce moral judgments about perceptions and practices. The final part of the dissertation analyses how the dominant metaphors, namely music, embroidery, farming and the mirror, blend in multiple ways in the text to create new domains of meaning. The four main metaphors also blend with secondary metaphors in the novel in order to generate meaning. One of the important secondary metaphors is the "waterhondjies". The "waterhondjies" blend with Guido Gezelle's poem "Het Schrijverke". There is also emphasis on the relationship between writing and the "waterhondjies". The blending of the caeser butterfly plays an important role in the novel as well. In the final chapter the statement is made that the metaphors and symbols in Agaat cannot merely be regarded and interpreted as traditional motives, but rather as examples of cognitive blending. The types of blending in the novel require the cooperation of the reader in all cases. The reader must, in some cases, as with the mirror metaphor and the metaphor of the "waterhondjies", identify and activate the second domain of the blend. In the case of the mottos the different domains of the blend are activated by the author and the reader only needs to provide an interpretation. At the end of the dissertation the conclusion is made that the blending theory offers a suitable method and terminology to analyze the complex processes of generating meaning in the novel. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010