Abstract

This article deals with two main topics: the interplay of iconicity and metaphors in signed language discourse and the relevance of sociocultural knowledge for a full understanding of LIS metaphors. Metaphors produced in two different signed registers, Conferences and Poetry, are analyzed. I maintain that in signed metaphors, the iconic features of signs play a role in the creative process of determining a mental fit between two different domains, when metaphors are produced. Iconicity mirrors the properties of the structure of a blended space, in which features of both the target and the source domain of the metaphor are projected. The iconic features of signs are dynamically activated during the online cognitive processes aimed at maximizing the similarity between two usually unrelated domains. I also suggest that shared cultural knowledge plays a central role in driving the cross-domain mappings of LIS metaphors. Both topics are related to the general problem of understanding in detail the creative process of mapping target domains onto some particular sources in signed language metaphors.

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