Conference theme
The Social Impact of Metaphor:
People affect each other in many different ways. As social animals, we are drawn by the attractiveness of others and aroused by their mere presence, stimulated by their activity and embarrassed by their attention. We are influenced by the actions of others, entertained by their performances, and sometimes persuaded by their arguments. We are inhibited by the surveillance of others and made less guilty by their complicity. We are threatened by the power of others and angered by their attack. Fortunately, we are also comforted by the support of others and sustained by their love.
By social impact, I mean any of the great variety of changes in physiological states and subjective feelings, motives and emotions, cognitions and beliefs, values and behavior, that occur in an individual, human or animal, as a result of the real, implied, or imagined presence or actions of other individuals.
(Latané, 1981:343)
Metaphor scholarship, conscious of the power yielded by figurative language, has great potential to raise the same awareness among other language users. With this theme we hope to advance the discussion about the implications of metaphor studies and their implementation in real world.
We welcome papers that address all aspects of metaphor (and related) research from any perspective, including but not restricted to the following:
Latané, B. (1981). The Psychology of Social Impact. American Psychologist, 36(4), 343–356.