The Meaning Construction Of Multimodal Metaphor In TV Cosmetic Advertisements

The rapid development of science and information technology has brought people into a digital age. Communication is no longer restricted to the language level. Other modes, such as pictures, sound, music, color, gestures etc., also can function as cpmmunicative tools. With the development of multimodal discourses, multimodal metaphor analysis emerges along with the time. It is of great necessity to analyze the construal of multimodal metaphor and the metaphorical meaning construction.Metaphor is a matter of thought, which is pervasive in human’s daily life. In advertisements, the metaphor rendered predominantly in several modes is one kind of multimodal metaphor. The advertisement is the best way merchants advertise their products and customers learn about the products. As a kind of advertisement and with the same features, the purpose of the cosmetic advertisements is to deliver the information of the products and arouse potential customers’ purchasing motivation. So’ far, some linguists have studied metaphor in the cosmetic advertisements. However, most researches are only restricted to the static advertisements. The researches of multimodal metaphor in TV cosmetic advertisements from the perspective of cognition are few.Based on the cognitive linguistics, the study analyzes the interaction of every mode and the meaning construction of multimodal metaphor in three Lancome TV cosmetic advertisements. The three samples are collected from the official website of Lancome and the website www. Youku. com, that is,"La vie est belle" fragrance,"Hypnose Star" mascara cream,"Lancome Renergie Multilift". All of these three advertisements cover visual, verbal and auditory modes. In this thesis, the method of qualitative analysis is adopted. The three TV cosmetic advertisements are analyzed respectively from the perspective of cognition, verifying that each mode in the advertisement can manifest metaphorical meaning. Then, the metaphors underlying the advertisements will be identified and listed within a table.Based on the comparison of the analysis of multimodal metaphor in each advertisement, this thesis discusses some similarities and differences among multimodal metaphors in these three kinds of cosmetic advertisements. Similarities:①in the three TV cosmetic advertisements, the construal of multimodal metaphor is based on the interaction of all the modes, where every mode can express a metaphorical meaning;②in these cosmetic advertisements, the advertised product is always the target domain, which is directly presented by the visual mode or verbal mode. However, the identification of the source domain is relatively complicated, which is presented through the combination of visual and verbal modes with the assistance of human cognition and background knowledge;③the color and background music used in these cosmetic advertisements interact with visual and verbal modes to contribute to the meaning construction of multimodal metaphors. Differences:①the target domain in the three cosmetic advertisements emerges in different sequences. The later the target domain emerges, the harder it is to construe the multimodal metaphor in the advertisement.②on account of different functions and features of the three kinds of cosmetic advertisements, the fragrance advertisement expresses the metaphorical meaning through the means of emotional appeals, which is the most difficult to be construed; the make-up product advertisement manifests the metaphorical meaning by the means of combination of rational and emotional appeals; the skin care product advertisement expresses the metaphorical meaning through the means of rational appeals, which is the easiest to be identified. Finally, the study points out that the construal of multimodal metaphor is influenced by the brand idea, functions and features of different products, and cultural elements.Different from the previous studies of static printed advertisements, this thesis mainly analyzes multimodal metaphors in the dynamic TV advertisements, which can further enrich the conceptual metaphor theory, and proves that the meaning construction of multimodal metaphors is a dynamic process based on the interaction of all the modes. In addition, some clues and inspiration have also been provided for domestic advertisement designers, who can use some advantages in foreign cosmetics advertisements for reference.