Application of the Conceptual Theory of Metaphor and Metonymy to Iran's Cinema: A Case Study of "the Snow on the Pines"

Linguistic representations of conceptual metaphors have been studied in numerous Iranian and non-Iranian researches; however, few studies have been devoted to visual representations of metaphor. In the present research, based on the theory of conceptual metaphor and metonymy as well as multimodal theory of metaphor, the metaphorical and metonymical conceptualizations of the film of "the Snow on the Pines" were studied. To this end, all the scenes and dialogues were analyzed and the metaphors and metonymies, which were directly or indirectly related to the main theme of the film, i.e., infidelity and love, were scrutinized. The findings showed that some metaphors like SADNESS AS DARKNESS and EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIP AS NUTRIENT were mainly mono-modal and only represented via the visual signs. On the other hand, some metaphors like LOVE AS JOURNEY, CONTROL/POWER AS UP, and LACK OF EMOTIONAL RELATIONSHIP AS SNOW were multimodal and represented by a combination of visual and spoken or visual and written signs. Moreover, in the present film, the metonymies of EFFECT FOR CAUSE and POSSESSED FOR POSSESSOR played a significant role in forming metaphorical conceptualizations.