Systematic Literature Reviews (SLR) Regarding Representation of Conceptual Metaphors: A Study of SLR

Abstract

Many guiding articles on literature reviews exist, but few have delivered an authoritative protocol that researchers can rely upon with clarity and confidence. To commemorate the study explores the representation of conceptual metaphors through the systematic literature reviews. Lakoff [Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, 1987.] and other “conceptual metaphor” theorists have argued that our use and understanding of figurative language is mediated by unconscious metaphoric correspondences that structure human concepts. Communication scholars have employed the conceptual metaphor framework to infer attitudes and beliefs from the figurative expressions people use to describe their personal experiences. However, these scholars rarely scrutinize the framework’s assumptions, many of which have been vigorously challenged in other disciplines. In this article, the researchers critically assess the relevant articles related to explanatory value of the “conceptual metaphor” construct and review the empirical evidence for and against it. The study finds that with its important influence, the conceptual metaphor framework has fared well as an account of conceptual structure or a model of figurative language understanding.