La protesta social como ‘laboratorio’ de creatividad metafórica

El presente trabajo analiza cómo la metáfora, una de las estrategias de cambio lingüístico más productivas, funciona en la creación de eslóganes en la reciente protesta social española (2011-2014). En concreto, el análisis muestra: (i) cómo los eslóganes se crean a partir de experiencias específicas y salientes, compartidas por la comunidad; (ii) cómo las expresiones metafóricas se activan a través del tema del discurso (la crisis, la corrupción, los recortes), el contexto social y físico inmediato y el contexto socio-cultural más general e histórico de la comunidad, y (iii), cómo estos factores socio-culturales interactúan con los medios materiales a disposición de los ‘autores’ de los eslóganes, creando metáforas multimodales de gran complejidad. Finalmente, el estudio muestra cómo las metáforas más salientes y activas en la mente de los creadores se recontextualizan o (re)adaptan a las nuevas condiciones contextuales, variando en significado, forma y función de una protesta y medio a otro. Con este propósito se han utilizado las herramientas teóricas y metodológicas provenientes de recientes aproximaciones socio-cognitivas a la metáfora: el análisis de la metáfora en contextos discursivos reales (Linell 1998, 2002; Cameron & Deignan 2006; Kövecses 2009, 2010, Semino 2008; Semino et al. 2013) y el estudio de la metáfora multimodal (Forceville & Urios-Aparisi 2009)This paper analyses how metaphor, one of the most productive strategies of linguistic change, works in the creation of slogans in recent social protests in Spain (2011-2014). Specifically, the study analyses: (i) How the slogans are created from specific, salient experiences common to a community; (ii) how the metaphorical expressions are triggered by the discourse topic (the economic crisis, corruption, cuts), the immediate social and physical situation, as well as by the more general and historical context of the community, and (iii) how these socio-cultural factors interact with the material means at hand creating highly complex, multimodal metaphors. Finally, the study shows how the most salient, active metaphors are recontextualized or (re)adapted to new contextual conditions and modes by modifying their meaning, form and function. To this aim, the latest socio-cognitive approaches to metaphor are applied, namely, the analysis of metaphor in real discourse (Linell 1998, 2002; Cameron & Deignan 2006; Kövecses 2009, 2010, Semino 2008; Steen 2011; Semino, Deignan & Littlemore 2013) and multimodal metaphor (Forceville & Urios-Aparisi 2009

Creating new discourses for new feminisms: A critical socio-cognitive approach

Drawing from a critical and socio-cognitive approach to discourse analysis, this paper analyses the discursive creativity deployed by feminists in the production of slogans for the last 8M (InternationalWomen's Day) rallies from 2018 to 2020 in Spain. Findings show how the creative discourse strategies identified in the 8M banners, recontextualization and multimodal metaphor in the main, triggered by new feminist movements (Feminism 4.0, Feminism of the 99%), as well as by salient socio-cultural events taking place within the community, are construing a new discourse of optimism, festivity and empowerment, that is helping to transform gender relations in Spanish societyThis work was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness Research Project FFI2016/77540

Emotion, attention and idiolectal variation in radio narratives

This paper studies the discursive devices narrators of highly emotional radio oral narratives use in order to guide the listener through the multiplicity of stories which unfold through the narrative process. The main aim of this paper, thus, is twofold. First, to describe the specific features of this narrative text type using the latest developments in discourse production and comprehension analysis coming from Cognitive Models of language –Attention Phenomena and Mental Spaces and Conceptual Integration Theory (Talmy 2000, 2007, 2008; Langacker 2001, 2008; Fauconnier and Turner 2002), as well as from functional approaches to oral discourse segmentation (Redeker 2006). And second, it analyses one of the main attention guiding strategies of oral discourse: the use of discourse markers. More specifically, the paper addresses the question of whether, in the texts under study, there is a fixed repertoire of markers with polysemous meanings and functions which are collective and common to this discourse type, or whether individual preferences can also be detectedEste trabajo estudia los mecanismos discursivos que se usan en narraciones orales de alto contenido emocional con el fin de guiar al oyente a través de la multiplicidad de historias que se desarrollan en el proceso narrativo. El objetivo principal de este trabajo, por lo tanto, es doble. En primer lugar, describir las características específicas de este tipo de textos narrativos utilizando los últimos avances en el análisis de la producción y comprensión del discurso provenientes de modelos cognitivos del lenguaje: los Fenómenos de Atención y la teoría de la Integración Conceptual y los Espacios Mentales (Talmy 2000, 2007, 2008; Langacker 2001, 2008; Fauconnier y Turner, 2002), así como de un aproximación funcional a la segmentación del discurso oral (Redeker 2006). En segundo lugar, analizar una de las principales estrategias para guiar la atención en el discurso oral: el uso de marcadores discursivos. En concreto, el artículo aborda la cuestión de si, en los textos analizados, existe un repertorio fijo de marcadores polisémicos que son comunes a este tipo de discurso, o si también es posible detectar en su uso preferencias individuale

Revising Old English Definitions of FRIEND: A Cognitive Account

Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session and Parasession on The Role of Learnability in Grammatical Theory (1996

The structure of emotion discourse: from Labovian to socio-cognitive models

This paper focuses on how narrators convey emotion in the structure of oral narrative discourse in Spanish. To this end, the structure of personal oral narratives of highly emotional events in a sample of radio narratives is analyzed from two different approaches: Labovian and socio-cognitive. This work shows, first, how the Labovian approach to personal oral narratives of “vivid” events is applied to emotionally charged texts and, second, how the theoretical concepts of mental spaces and conceptual integration theory, as well as the latest developments within socio-cognitive theories, can help to better understand the processes that, on the one hand, enable speakers to create bonds with the listener, and on the other hand, enable hearers to make sense of the apparently chaotic information presented in these particular types of narratives

Field performance of seedlings and microproppagated plants of carob tree

Micropropagated plantlets of cv. Mulata and cv. Galhosa growing in pots, after acclimatization in the glasshouse and growth for several months under natural conditions, were transferred to a field trial. Carob seedlings of ‘Mulata’ were also transferred under the same conditions. The field trial has been established with 100% of success in micropropagated plants and 97% in seedlings. Three months after transfer to the field, plants showed good growth but micropropagated plants of ‘Mulata’ exhibited more vigour than ‘Galhosa’ and than seedlings, with the greatest number of branches and a larger length increase in the main stem. Before transference to the field, net photosynthetic rates (PN), water use efficiency (PN/gs) and quantum yield of PSII (fPSII) of the potted plants were higher in seedlings than in micropropagated plants. Three months after transplantation all gas exchange parameters were improved for all types of plants, particularly net photosynthetic rate, and no significant differences were observed between plants either micropropagated or seedlings. On the other hand, fPSII decreased significantly in seedlings. The results suggest that the pre-acclimation, in pots, to external environmental conditions might have improved field survival, plant vigour and enhanced the endurance to adverse conditions of micropropagated carob trees

The environmental project of the enhancement of the fluvial area: L’Aquila and the Aterno River

Il contributo si colloca in un programma interdisciplinare volto alla valorizzazione e la tutela del fiume, attraverso il controllo dei flussi e l’attivazione di simbiosi. Si integrano, con un approccio che parte dalla progettazione ambientale, le tematiche urbane, paesaggistiche, tecnologiche ed ecologiche, per orientare lo sviluppo del territorio in termini di tutela e valorizzazione delle risorse, e per recuperare le discontinuità rappresentata oggi dal fiume, in alcuni contesti urbani, conferendole maggiore riconoscibilità e potenzialità. Nello specifico si indaga il rapporto tra L’Aquila e il fiume Aterno per individuare, a livello locale, le strategie perseguibili per il recupero delle connessioni tra l’ambito fluviale e urbano, per la valorizzazione del territorio e il ripristino della funzionalità dell’acqua nel suo ciclo vitale.

The Bioinformatics Italian Society

The Bioinformatics Italian Society (BITS) is a non-profit scientific association grounded on 19 June 2003, to gather scientists with interests in the field of Bioinformatics, intended as multidisciplinary science studying biological problems at the molecular level by using informatics and computational methods. The Society has now about 230 members and aims at overcoming 250 in 2012

Seasonal changes in CO2 assimilation in leaves of seedlings and micropropagated plants of Carob tree established in the field

In this communication we evaluate the field performance of two micropropagated Portuguese carob cultivars (Galhosa and Mulata) throughout the season, particularly at extreme conditions of light and temperature. Two irrigated plots were established in the field: 1) micropropagated plants, vs 2) seedlings. During the first year following transplantation to the field, we followed net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, chlorophyll a fluorescence and leaf contents in chlorophyll, carotenoids and protein. No significant differences were detected between seedlings and micropropagated plants along the year. However, at the end of summer, despite irrigation, the photosynthetic rate (NP), the quantum yield of PSII (fPSII) and the intrinsic efficiency of open PSII reaction centers (F’v/F’m) declined, concomitantly with the increase of the thermal energy dissipation at the PSII (NPQ). As the maximal photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm) was maintained high (0.82), these results indicate that regulated thermal dissipation in light harvesting complexes was promoted in order to avoid photoinhibition. After the first growth period in the field, data from micropropagated plants did not differ from seedlings, and those plants showed the characteristic behaviour of plants well adapted to Mediterranean climates. So, in vitro propagation could be use as a promising alternative to traditional propagation and establishment of carob orchards

TRAceS: experimental processes to simulate “carbon neutral” urban habitats

This research addresses the issue of process innovation for the transformation of the built environment aimed at carbon neutral objectives in urban space. The design experience is based on a game-based learning approach in which collaborative processes and digital technologies support the performance response of the project actions. The collected information is processed with the intention of configuring a digital serious game as an interactive space where citizen, designer and public administrators can understand and simulate urban transformation scenarios and seek shared solutions that can contain the local ecological footprint as close as possible to the sustainable limit