Conceptual metaphors in lyrics, vocal realization and music – reinforcement or modification of emotional potential

Magdalena Zyga

University of Szczecin, Poland

Magdalena Zyga, PhD, is an adjunct professor at the University of Szczecin (Institute of Linguistics). Her research interests encompass translation studies, especially literary translation, cognitive linguistics and discourse analysis. In 2012, she obtained her doctorate on the basis of the dissertation Idiolekte in deutschsprachigen literarischen Texten [Idiolects in German-language literary texts], published in 2013.


https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8901-5580


Abstract

The paper seeks to examine the ways in which the emotional potential (Germ. Emotionspotential) rooted in the textual part of selected songs can potentially be reinforced or modified by the music and vocal realization. Music and intonation provide sonic counterparts of the emotional states expressed by language. I shall consider cases where the sonic counterpart is either an analog or stands in contrast to the textual component and the affective value commonly associated with the invoked conceptual metaphor/metonymy. The research material consists of three versions of the song Ride by 21 Pilots, the song Here Comes the Night Time by Arcade Fire and Die Flut [the flood] by Joachim Witt and Peter Heppner. The analysis results show that salient presence of up/down image schema in verbal and musical orientational metaphors is observable, albeit not always accompanied with the most typical valence pattern.

Keywords:

cognitive linguistics, conceptual metaphors, emotions, melody and lyrics, popular music

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Published
2020-12-20


Zyga, M. (2020) “Conceptual metaphors in lyrics, vocal realization and music – reinforcement or modification of emotional potential”, Crossroads. A Journal of English Studies, (31), pp. 44–65. doi: 10.15290/CR.2020.31.4.03.

Magdalena Zyga 
University of Szczecin, Poland

Magdalena Zyga, PhD, is an adjunct professor at the University of Szczecin (Institute of Linguistics). Her research interests encompass translation studies, especially literary translation, cognitive linguistics and discourse analysis. In 2012, she obtained her doctorate on the basis of the dissertation Idiolekte in deutschsprachigen literarischen Texten [Idiolects in German-language literary texts], published in 2013.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8901-5580