Metaphors, conceptual integration and the pandemic: multidisciplinarity is the key

Abstract

In this essay, I outline considerations regarding the analytical and methodological path (strategies, difficulties, steps taken to face theoretical challenges etc.) of my doctoral research project, currently under development at the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ). I investigate 20 cartoons by Ulisses Araújo in the light of Cognitive Linguistics, in particular, the theory of Conceptual Integration (FAUCONNIER; TURNER, 2002) and the Extended Conceptual Metaphor (KÖVECSES, 2020). To do so, I start from the assumption that blending and metaphor are underlying cognitive processes, correlated and fundamental to the creation of meanings in textual genres, especially multimodal ones, such as cartoons. Furthermore, I take a multidisciplinary framework in the analysis, combining disciplines such as Philosophy, Psychology, Anthropology and Art. I argue that they have been key to the purposes of this research.