PLENARY LECTURE

Social impact of figurative framing

In many situations, figurative devices (e.g., metaphor, hyperbole, irony) can serve as frames by presenting a certain perspective on a particular issue. In this talk, I will combine insights from metaphor studies with theories and approaches from communication science. I will give an overview of recent research from my group on the use and effects of such figurative frames across discourse domains and in special settings (e.g., satirical news). These studies reveal that figurative frames may have differential effects: some figuative frames can be highly impactful, others may fizzle out, and a third group of frames may even backfire and have an opposite effect to its sender’s intention. This indicates heterogeneity between frames and effects. Thus, rather than asking whether figurative frames are effective, I propose that we should focus on the question which figurative frames are effective for whom under which conditions and when. By presenting such boundary conditions, we can further specify the social impact of figurative frames.