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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Why The Block Is The Block: Reinforcing Community Through Casual Conversation, L. David Ritchie
Why The Block Is The Block: Reinforcing Community Through Casual Conversation, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
This study combines Discourse Dynamics (Cameron, 2007) with Perceptual Simulation Theory (Barsalou, 2007; Gibbs, 2006), to analyze a sample of talk among residents of an urban neighborhood about topics related to community safety and the quality of life in their community. The results demonstrate the role of casual conversation in structuring complex social relationships, and the usefulness of close attention to metaphors, story-telling, and humor. By their use, re-use, and development of metaphors and stories the participants in this conversation express and reinforce the patterns of sociability and mutual watchfulness that contribute to a feeling of safety and comfort in …
Relevance And Simulation In Metaphor, L. David Ritchie
Relevance And Simulation In Metaphor, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
Recent writings have done much to develop and extend Relevance Theory as an account of metaphors and other "loose" language use. However, it is argued in this essay that Relevance Theory still leaves important gaps in its explanation and does not adequately address the "circularity" issue that has been raised. It is proposed that Perceptual Simulation Theory usefully extends Relevance Theory by providing a detailed cognitive mechanism for the "broadening" and "narrowing" specified by Relevance Theory. Extending Relevance Theory to include the cognitive mechanisms posited by Perceptual Simulation Theory also extends the reach of Relevance theory and enhances its ability …
Gateshead Revisited: Perceptual Simulators And Fields Of Meaning In The Analysis Of Metaphors, L. David Ritchie
Gateshead Revisited: Perceptual Simulators And Fields Of Meaning In The Analysis Of Metaphors, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
In an extension and partial reformulation of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), Ritchie (2003, 2004, 2006) proposed that the linguistic expressions cited as evidence of complex conceptual metaphors can be parsimoniously interpreted in terms of perceptual simulators (Barsalou, 1999), often within extended fields of meaning, which may be but are not necessarily anchored in underlying conceptual metaphors. Cameron (2003, 2007) added substance and precision to the focal concept of communicative context, and showed how metaphors can be analyzed both as part of an overall pattern of figurative language in a communicative event. In this essay a series of …
Frame-Shifting In Humor And Irony, L. David Ritchie
Frame-Shifting In Humor And Irony, L. David Ritchie
Communication Faculty Publications and Presentations
Coulson's (2001) analysis of humor as "frame-shifting" is extended to irony and compared to other current theories of humor and irony, including Giora's (2003) graded salience model. It is argued that the effects of humor and irony often depend on a subversive relationship between the initial and alternative frames, which adds to both cognitive and social meaning; understanding these effects requires consideration of the expansion of common ground (Clark, 1996) and relevance effects (Sperber & Wilson, 1986) triggered by the shift from a culturally licensed to a subversive frame. Reanalysis of several examples from recent studies in the light of …