Multimodal metaphors and advertising: A trilingual comparison of the use of multimodal metaphor in bank advertisements

Abstract

This dissertation aims at analyzing the use of multimodal metaphor of the verbo-pictorial type in English, Spanish and French bank advertisements. Following Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) and Forceville’s (1996, 2009) approaches, it examines how a comparative study undertaken from a trilingual perspective can throw light on the way major banks and their products are conceptualized in times of unstable economy due to the current financial crisis, and the principal consequences thereof. The findings reveal that while the three languages are similarly rich in multimodal metaphors, significant differences also appear in terms of targeted audience, focus of conceptualization, individual objectives and cross-cultural connotations. The results furthermore demonstrate that systematic patterns and correlations can be identified in relation to the modes in which the main source and target domains are cued and to the range of metaphors ascertained, which shows that the overall implications are intrinsically linked to the specific genre of data investigated.