Metaphor theories for mediation in multimodal perspectives

In this article we suggest a multidimensional approach to the study of metaphor. We believe that to yield an effective cognitive mediation in the field of professional communication, one should appeal to metaphor in its multiple representations. The article provides a brief overview of the theories of metaphor starting with the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, followed by the theory of Conceptual Integration, Metaphor Identification Procedure, the Neural Theory of Metaphor, Frame Semantics applied to metaphor in discourse, Taxonomic Metaphor Modelling, as well as situation and context modelling. These theories have been comprehensively examined in linguistics and proved their soundness in multiple studies carried out by various researchers. For this reason, our intention is not to provide another rationale in their support but to show their correlation and complementarity for profound knowledge adaptation at the surface and deep layers of the discourse. The novel perspective of the approach consists in using the neural theory of language to unite metaphor in thought, language, grammar, and communication into a coherent study of metaphor as a multimodal phenomenon and a cognitive tool for knowledge transfer and acquisition.