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Abstract

This study aims to examine the function of metaphor modality (monomodal and multimodal) in a corpus of 250 memes collected from two Jordanian-based Facebook pages called “مطب – Bump” and “فيل زهري – Feel Zahri [pink elephant].” The 250 memes were shared on these Facebook pages between January 2019 and January 2020. The study adopts Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) by Lakoff and Johnson and Forceville’s Multimodal Metaphor Theory (MMT) as its theoretical framework. The results showed that metaphors used in the target memes were conveyed through the use of common source domains, word-image incompatibility (to create irony and by extension humor), and intertextual links where the intertextual gap is minimized to facilitate understanding. The results also revealed that multimodal metaphors (containing both visual and verbal cues) are more frequent than monomodal metaphors (only visual cues or verbal cues) in the target memes, which could be ascribed to the fact that Jordanian creators of memes may want to achieve maximum contextual effects with minimum processing time. With regard to the nature of the metaphors found in terms of universality, the majority of the metaphors are potentially near universal (e.g., human behavior is animal behavior), yet it was argued that some of them pass through the cultural filter giving rise to specific mappings and, in turn, generating culture-specific metaphors.

Keywords

cognitive linguistics discourse analysis memes metaphor modality intertextuality

Introduction

With the rapid spread of online mediated communication through the Internet, the phenomenon of Internet Memes emerged and swept over most social media platforms. Shifman (2013, pp. 7–8) defines an Internet Meme as: “(a) A group of digital items sharing common characteristics of content, form, and/or stance, (b) that were created with awareness of each other, and (c) were circulated, imitated, and/or transformed via the Internet by many users” (see also Baym, 2015; Miller, 2020; Phillips, 2015; Stromer-Galley, 2019; Younes & Altakhaineh, 2022). According to Shifman (2013, p. 14), Internet Memes can be considered as “modern folklore, in which shared norms and values are constructed through cultural artefacts such as photoshopped images.” Memes project humorous aspects of thoughts, events, and experiences, which possibly explains their rapid circulation among Internet users as they are seen as relatable and viral material that delivers messages humorously (Piata, 2016). An Internet Meme may take several forms, such as the form of an image (typically an image macro), video, or Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). Internet Memes are also characterized by several attributes; for instance, they have a range of user-created derivatives and imitations such as parodies, mashups, or remixes. Another main attribute of Internet Memes is intertextuality; memes often relate to other texts or instances of talk in complex and innovative ways (see Zibin, 2022a). Memes also contain metaphors as a common element in their making (Huntington, 2016).

In the search for how metaphors can be depicted in Internet Memes, it became noticeable that there is a scarcity of research studies that have been conducted on memes portraying the Arab culture. In a recent study, Younes and Altakhaineh (2022) examined the monomodal and multimodal metaphors found in Jordanian memes to depict COVID-19 and found that multimodal metaphors are used more frequently than monomodal ones. However, this study focused on one target domain (COVID-19), whereas the current study examines the metaphors used in memes in general without focusing on one target domain. Therefore, analyzing the conceptual metaphors and their modality within an Arab context is still worthy of further research as it can provide more insight into how Facebook users share their thoughts via metaphors circulated in memes. Analyzing the monomodal and multimodal metaphors found in memes shared by Facebook users in Jordan can also help in understanding how socio-cultural factors can affect metaphors and by extension these memes (cf. Forceville, 2017). Thus, this is the aim of this study, that is, to analyze the metaphors used in Jordanian memes and to shed light on the function of the modality of these metaphors. This study adopts the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (2003) and Forceville’s (1996, 2006, 2008) Multimodal Metaphor Theory as its theoretical framework. It specifically aims to answer the following research questions:

(1) What is the nature of the monomodal and multimodal metaphors found in the most trending memes on the Jordanian Facebook pages “ مطب– Bump” and “فيل زهري – Feel Zahri” in terms of universality?

(2) What is the most frequent source domains found in the target metaphors?

(3) What is the most frequent type of mode configurations (i.e., monomodal, multimodal) found in the metaphors used in these memes?

Theoretical Framework and Previous Studies

Lakoff and Johnson (2003, p. 5) define metaphors as “understanding and experiencing one kind of a thing in terms of another” and the technical term “Conceptual Metaphors” (CMs) stems from knowledge structures settled in long term memory (p. 3). The two researchers explain how concepts control our thought processes and our everyday functions, down to the most basic and simple details. Since a conceptual metaphor is a cognitive device that helps in structuring meaning by mappings features from the source to the target domain, the former are mainly based on our bodily experience (Johnson, 1987). The latter then becomes the basis for conceptualization and reasoning about typically abstract the target domains (Lakoff, 2008, p. 45; Lakoff and Johnson, 1999). Understanding one domain in relation to the other involves a set of similarities (otherwise named mappings) between a target and a source domain. To know a conceptual metaphor is to be acquainted with the set of mappings that pertain to a given source-target pairing (Kövecses, 2010). These mappings offer much of the meaning of the metaphorical expressions (or linguistic metaphors) which are regarded as linguistic manifestations of a certain conceptual metaphor, for example, argument is war (Lakoff & Turner, 1989). This conceptual metaphor is reflected in our ordinary language in a wide variety of expressions, as in the following examples:

He attacked every weak point in my argument. His criticisms were right on target.

I’ve never won an argument with him.

You disagree? Okay, shoot!

(Lakoff & Johnson, 2003, p. 4)

In the early 1980s, viewing metaphors as cognitive phenomena became increasingly popular (Gibbs, 1994; Lakoff, 1987, 1993; Lakoff & Johnson, 2003). However, prior to this observation, metaphor was perceived as the expressive manner of saying or composing something that could as well be communicated in a literal way and that is why many authors have disregarded the likelihood of metaphors being conveyed in other forms aside from the verbal, for example, picture, signs, etc (Forceville, 1994). Concurring to this cognitive view, metaphor’s mechanisms exist in the mind separately from the language, and what was previously believed to be a metaphor is now deemed to be simply the surface recognition of a particular method of thinking. Therefore, any type of communication can be perceived as a metaphor, if it can prompt a metaphorical thought or concept (El Refaie, 2003). Thus, metaphors can be cued pictorially, verbally, or both. In this regard, Forceville (1994, 1995, 1996, 2006) has studied pictorial metaphors on billboards and in advertisements and he defines monomodal metaphors as “metaphors whose target and source are exclusively or predominantly rendered in one mode” (2006, p. 383), while multimodal metaphors are “metaphors whose target and source are each represented exclusively or predominantly in different modes” (2006, p. 384). A multimodal metaphor draws on two or more modes/modalities to activate mapping between the tenor and the vehicle; or target domain and source domain (Forceville, 2016). Pictorial (or visual) metaphors are monomodal since their target and source domains are entirely construed in visual terms (Forceville, 2016). Verbal metaphors have both of the source and target domains completely rendered verbally. Even though language could be more precise in presenting some features of meanings, other aspects could be portrayed or delivered more easily and efficiently visually (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Forceville & Paling, 2021).

In relation to the use of multimodal and monomodal metaphors, it seems that genre plays an important role. According to Forceville (2009), the genre within which a text or a picture is present determines and constrains its potential interpretations to a great extent. Because of that, it is crucial to examine the effect of the genre on the production and interpretation of both monomodal and multimodal metaphors. For example, in advertising as argued by Forceville (1996), the targets of metaphors usually coincide with the promoted product which is expected since advertisements predicates something about a brand, product, or service. In addition, the features which are mapped from source to target are often positive. According to Lan and Zuo (2016), the multimodal metaphors detected in editorial cartoons are often pictorial-verbal ones. This is due to the fact that editorial cartoons are mainly composed of the pictorial and the verbal mode. Whether the genre utilizes monomodal or multimodal metaphors, certain factors need to be taken into account to provide interpretations for these metaphors and to explain the reasons behind their use. In one study on visual metaphor, El Refaie (2009) examined the ways in which readers perceive and respond to multimodal texts through analyzing three cartoons taken from the liberal Independent, the conservative: the Daily Telegraph, and the right wing tabloid Daily Mail. The results were relatively against the common view of how cartoons are easy to interpret. That is, El Refaie argued that to interpret cartoons readers, including well-learned ones, require a wide knowledge of present events, a high degree of comprehensive understating of idioms and other linguistic phenomena, a large stock of symbols that belong to different cultures, a good knowledge of cartoons conventions, and an ability to think in a creative and an unorthodox way (El Refaie, 2009, p. 199).

In another study, Piata (2016) examined three political ads used for an election campaign in Greece in 2015; each one of these metaphors builds on a scenario of the journey metaphor as well as their humorous interpretations in internet memes spread on social media platforms. Piata argues that metaphors used in memes recast the metaphorical conceptualizations involved within in a humorous way as a means of criticism. Thus, unlike in advertising, metaphors, both monomodal and multimodal, in memes are used for humor and criticism. Thus, it can be argued that genres have a role to play in the use of metaphors, whether monomodal or multimodal, and in their function (Zibin, 2022a). In memes, it can be suggested that multimodal metaphors could be used more frequently than monomodal metaphors (especially visual metaphors) since the creators of the memes aim to avoid confusion that may lead to misinterpretation; thus, they may make use of both visual and verbal cues.

In relation to their universality, Forceville (2017) proposes that whilst many conceptual metaphors in cartoons or ads are significantly shared universally on earth, they also carry dimensions that are determined by culture. He provides an example in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

An advertisement of a product by Avia containing the metaphor horse is cat (Forceville 2017).

Forceville elaborates that in order to understand what is happening in this figure, the reader would need some background knowledge. This is an advertisement of a product by Avia. The brand and the product advertised are clearly rendered by the plastic flacon in the right hand bottom corner of the ad with the line “Advanced synthetic motor oil by Avia.” However, the picture is of a horse playing with a ball of wool which depicts a cat’s behavior. The understood metaphor here is horse is cat. At first, the viewers may construe from their universal knowledge that since the capacity of motors is measured with horse power, then this is an ad for motor oil. Nonetheless, the conceptual metaphor of horse is cat is identified by the line “makes your horses purr.” Since purring is a cat sound that is specifically associated with happy cats, it could be deduced that this draws on the notion of “unproblematically running” for the car. People in different cultures and subcultures in which cats are only useful for catching mice, or edibility and not of a house happy cat, may be flustered by the metaphor. Therefore, it can be suggested that while some metaphors employed in various mediums could be regarded as near-universal, the selection of a certain type of source and the mappings established could be culture-specific.

Against this background, many studies have focused on the use of visual metaphor in specialized language, including economics (Rojo López & Orts Llopis, 2010), political cartooning, and advertising (Negro Alousque, 2015), but studies that examined the use of monomodal and multimodal metaphors in memes, especially in an Arab context, are scarce to the best of the researchers’ knowledge (see Younes & Altakhaineh, 2022). Note also that CMT or one of its updated versions, for example, main meaning focus, has been adopted as theoretical framework by many recent studies (e.g., Al-Saleh et al., 2020; Zibin, 2021). However, this study adopts not only CMT but also MMT as its theoretical framework. Thus, this study aims to contribute to the field of metaphor studies by exploring the type of metaphors used in memes, given their increasing popularity.

Methodology

Data Collection Procedure

Since there is no freely accessible corpus of Jordanian memes, a corpus needs to be built to provide answers to the target research questions. Thus, a corpus of 360 memes was collected to examine the metaphors used in Jordanian memes. Then, these memes were filtered to select the ones that may potentially contain metaphors; after filtering, the total number of memes was 250. For validity purposes, the original number of memes was filtered by all three researchers separately. Following that, the researchers discussed their findings together and included the memes that were unanimously found to include metaphors, that is, 250 (see Lan & Zuo, 2016). The researchers believe that 250 memes could be regarded as representative of memes used on Jordanian pages, in addition, the size of the corpus is manageable to be analyzed manually (see Charteris-Black, 2004; Zibin, 2021) since an automated analysis will not be of use in this context. Concerning the type of corpus collected in this study, it is a specialized one. This type of corpus is specifically designed to explore a specific topic or genre (Zibin, 2021). Since this study is centered on analyzing the monomodal and multimodal metaphors found in memes, the researchers built a specialized manually-collected corpus (cf. Meunier & Gouverneur, 2009; Zibin, 2020). In order to decide which pages the researchers will collect the data from, a pilot study was conducted to determine which social media platforms Jordanians use the most, and which accounts or pages they follow the most for Jordanian memes. This pilot study was conducted to identify the pages from which the memes will be collected and to avoid subjectivity of data collection. The sampling procedure followed to recruit participants is convenient sampling where the sample is accessible and approachable. Specifically, an online survey was designed and posted by one of the researchers on her Facebook page. The online survey contained two questions: which one of the following pages do you use to find memes or share memes. The options were provided were selected by the researchers based on their knowledge as Jordanians. In addition, an open-ended question was provided at the end, that is, please suggest the specific page you use to find and share memes if it is not already provided in the options above. The total number of Jordanian friends on the researchers Facebook page was approximately 500, but only 90 users responded to the survey (nine were excluded since they were not Jordanians). With a total of 81 responses on the online survey, it was found that Jordanians opt to use Facebook (58.9%) and Instagram (60.3%) the most to find and share memes. Then, for the second question, many pages were provided by the participants, but we selected the top two pages with the highest percentage of votes, namely, “مطب – Bump” (74%) and “Adeela – عديلة” (35.6%). However, since Adeela is originally Lebanese and the aim was to collect data from Jordanian accounts, “فيل زهري – Feel Zahri [pink elephant]” were chosen based on the answers received from the participants in the survey.

Thus, the 250 memes were collected from two Jordanian Facebook (FB) pages; مطب– Bump and فيل زهري – Feel Zahri. In addition to the responses received from the survey, these two pages have more than 1 million likes each and memes are daily posted on them. The collected memes were published on these pages between January 2019 and January 2020, and they were selected based on their number of likes (at least 1,000), which is the approximate average number of meme likes during May 2019 on “مطب–Bump” page. After collecting memes, they were categorized based on the conceptual metaphor they share. Following that, the memes were examined and analyzed manually; the metaphors were analyzed and classified into monomodal and multimodal metaphors based on Forceville’s work (1996, 2006, 2008) provided in the following section. His works were employed to identify monomodal and multimodal metaphors since he is amongst the highest cited researchers in the field of visual and multimodal metaphors.

Metaphor Identification Process

According to Forceville (2006), pictorial (or visual) metaphors are monomodal; their target and source domains are entirely construed visually. Monomodal verbal metaphors have both of the source and target domains completely rendered verbally. In order for anything to be considered as a metaphor, whether it be pictorial or otherwise, three questions are ought to be satisfied (Forceville, 1996, p. 108):

“(1) What are its two domains? (2) What is its target domain, and what is its source domain? (3) Which feature or (structured) cluster of features can or must be mapped from source to target?”

On the other hand, multimodal metaphors have their source and target domains as well as their mappable features represented by at least two disparate sign systems (one of these systems may be a language). For a combination of two elements to construe a multimodal metaphor, three criteria must be met, only the last of which solely recognizes and identifies multimodal metaphors (Forceville, 2008, p. 469):

“(1) Given the context in which they occur, the two phenomena (i.e., target and source) belong to different categories. (2) The two phenomena can be slotted as target and source, respectively, and captured in an A IS B format that forces or invites an addressee to map one or more features, connotations, or affordances (Gibson, 1979) from source to target. (3) The two phenomena (i.e., target and source) are cued in different sign systems, sensory modes, or both.”

The researchers followed the above procedure to identify metaphors and to determine whether they are multimodal or monomodal. The next section presents the results and provides a discussion.

Data Analysis

Analysis of the Metaphors Used in the Target Memes

This section provides an answer to the first research question which is concerned with the nature of the monomodal and multimodal metaphors found in the most trending memes on the Jordanian Facebook pages “ مطب– Bump” and “فيل زهري – Feel Zahri” in terms of universality and a partial answer to the third research question which is concerned with the type of mode configurations (monomodal and multimodal) found in these metaphors. This suggests that in this section, the metaphors are discussed in terms of whether they are monomodal or multimodal and in terms of their universality. It should be noted that in the analysis, the Top Text in the memes will be referred to as TT and the Bottom Text as BT. For word limitation purposes, only one example is discussed under each category.

Human Behavior is Cartoon Behavior

This group presents the first most frequent conceptual metaphor (CM) in the collected corpus with a sum of 80 memes. All of these memes had the main conceptual metaphor of human behavior is cartoon behavior. This metaphor can be regarded as near-universal since human behavior is depicted as animated or cartoon behavior in all animated films, series, and shows around the world, for example, Disney movies, Japanese anime, etc. (see Kipp, 2005; Power, 2008). Even though the metaphor itself could be near-universal, some mappings generate some culture-specific references. For instance, in Figure 5 below, the meme carries a cultural-specific mapping; this metaphor references an embedded stereotype in the Arab culture. It views the family of the groom and specifically his sisters as judgmental and manipulative people who are looking to take advantage of the bride, who will soon join their family. It is stereotyped that these sisters will mistreat the bride in the same ways that the antagonist Disney characters (Maleficent, the evil fairy and the self-proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil”; Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s wicked stepmother; and the Evil Queen, the main antagonist in the animated film of Snow White) have behaved toward the female protagonists in their stories.

Data analysis revealed that there were two American animated cartoon series that were found to be dominant in the pictorial element of these memes depicting the source domain cartoon behavior. There were 25 memes from Tom and Jerry and 29 memes from SpongeBob SquarePants. The rest of the 26 memes had cartoon characters from Disney, Japanese animated series like Pokémon, and The Simpsons.

The researchers note that the pervasive use of the characters Tom from Tom and Jerry and SpongeBob from SpongeBob SquarePants might be due to the fact that these cartoons are frequently broadcasted on children’s TV channels in the Middle East. In addition, this cluster of 80 memes contained only multimodal metaphors.

In Figure 2 meme 1 (note that the numbers of these memes are taken from the collected corpus), the picture used is originally taken from the American animated cartoon, Tom and Jerry. This meme contains two sub-conceptual metaphors: the grandmother’s feeding behavior is tom’s behavior and the grandchild’s eating behavior is the chick’s behavior. The top text (TT) says: “When I am at my grandmother’s.” and then the pictorial element shows a scene with Tom force-feeding a chick. The target domains are cued verbally, while the source domains are cued pictorially and the mappings established between the source and target are affection, excess feeding, and exaggeration. When a grandchild visits his/her grandparents, the grandmother usually puts food on the table and overfeeds her grandchild so her behavior is very similar to Tom’s; nevertheless, it is without the intention of eating them afterward like Tom is planning to eat the chick after he fattens it. Other examples of the metaphor human behavior is cartoon behavior are presented below. In these examples, the notion of intertextuality is obvious, intertextuality is concerned with:

A text’s relations to other texts in the larger “mosaic” of cultural practices and their expression. An “intertext” is therefore a focalizing point within this network or system, while a text’s “intertextual” potential and status are derived from its relations with other texts past, present, and future.

(Orr, 2010, p. 1)

Figure 2.

Meme no. (1).

Kristeva (1980, p. 66) explains that “any text is constructed as a mosaic of quotations; any text is the absorption and transformation of another.” According to Hodges (2015), an intertextual gap is the intertextual relationship between a certain text or any other medium and an associated genre. A gap emerges as a result of the linking between certain utterances to generic models does not generate an exact fit since even faithful and prototypical re-creations always introduce some kind of variation on the theme. Nevertheless, the gap can either be suppressed to minimize the difference, alternatively it can be foregrounded to maximize it; therefore, these gaps inevitably reshape meaning. In the target memes, it can be observed that previous texts, instances of talks or characters are used to create the memes and the metaphors therein. All the memes refer to cartoon shows and their characters (Tom force-feeding the duck to fatten it, Squidward Tentacles’ bitter behavior, lazy Patrick Star, and evil Disney female characters). The behaviors mapped from these characters to the target ones are the same and thus the gab is minimized (cf. Zibin, 2022a; Figures 3 –5).

Figure 3.

Meme no. (26).

Figure 4.

Meme no. (49).

Figure 5.

Meme no. (68).

Real Life is an Acting Scene

This cluster presents the second most recurring CM in the corpus with a sum of 64 memes. The conceptual metaphor real life is an acting scene can be identified in all of these memes. One of the world’s most famous metaphor on acting is Shakespear’s “All the world’s a stage” (Penskaya & Küpper, 2019, p. 208) where he compares real life to a stage show and that all humans are merely actors. Another similar metaphor was discussed by Yu (2017), namely, life is an opera which is manifested in Chinese language and culture. In addition, people from different cultures make references to expressions or behaviors of actors or actresses in different films and TV shows and use them in their daily conversations. Thus, this CM can be regarded as near-universal. Yet again, the selection of the shows, the characters, and mappable features can indeed generate culture-specific references.

The pictorial cues of 54 memes out of the 64 are based on Arabic shows such as Egyptian and Syrian movies and music video clips, such as scenes with Tamer Hosny, Abla Kamel, Bassam Kousa (Egyptian and Syrian actors\actresses), and many others. It is clear here that cultural references are used in metaphors found in memes to establish affinity with the Arab audience and to make the metaphor more meaningful (see Zibin, 2022a; Figure 6).

Figure 6.

Meme no. (81).

The conceptual metaphor construed in this meme is dramatic real life experience is a dramatic acting scene. The source domain is a dramatic acting scene which is cued pictorially and the target domain is dramatic real life experience which is cued verbally yielding a multimodal metaphor. This metaphor depicts the means by which real scenarios happening to people in their lives are portrayed humorously by referencing acting scenes from movies, TV series, or even music video clips. Thus, the mappings that can identified here are fear, dramatization, and overreaction. Out of the 64 memes containing the conceptual metaphor real life is an acting scene, there were four of them with scenes of the Egyptian singer and actor, Tamer Hosny from his movies عمر وسلمى—Omar and Salma and الفلوس—The money. Hosny has a wide fan base both in the Arab region and potentially internationally. His stardom played a substantial role in making him a figure appearing in so many memes. Thus, this may suggest that selecting the celebrity\actor\actress to be included in a meme is not random; this figure should be well known by the majority of Arab viewers. In this scene, Omar falls on the floor after receiving a blow to his head which is not that strong. He gets into a fight with his ex’s boyfriend. The scene is exaggerated and is meant to make the audience sympathize with Omar and hate his ex who is shown to be a gold digger. This scene is used to joke about dramatic people (because they make a big deal out of nothing) who mistakenly press on video call while trying to click on the profile picture of their crush, that is, they would collapse on the floor dramatically just like Omar did in the movie. The dramatic behavior of the Egyptian actor after being hit by his ex’s boyfriend is portrayed similarly to people who mistakenly press on video call while trying to click on the profile picture of their crush; thus, again the intertextual gap is minimized. Other examples that depict this CM are provided below (Figures 7 and 8).

Figure 7.

Meme no. (88).

Figure 8.

Meme no. (92).

Human Behavior is Animal Behavior

This cluster presents the third most recurring source domain in the corpus with a sum of 45 memes. All of these memes contained the conceptual metaphor human behavior is animal behavior. In this regard, Goatly (2006) examined the ideological implications of the different interpretations of the statement “humans are animals.” His work compares the theories that literally view humans as sophisticated animals with other studies that interpret the statement metaphorically. Quite a few of these theories are prescriptive as they argue that metaphor patterns in English reflect the tendency to regard animal behavior as something that humans are ought to avoid. In contrast, some socio-biologists suggest it is quite natural to behave and act like animals (Goatly, 2006). Other cultural theories argue that the statement is nothing but metaphorical and that these differences from animals are what set humans apart (Goatly, 2006). This suggests that viewing human behavior as animal behavior whether the latter is favorable or otherwise is neither specific to the Arab culture, in general, nor the Jordanian culture in particular. Thus, this metaphor can be regarded as near-universal. In this study, animals are used metaphorically to depict humans for humor, irony, and criticism. Nevertheless, the latter depend on the animal depicted and its connotation in the Arab culture for example, dogs are not generally perceived favorably compared to the Western culture (see Figure 10). During data analysis, it was noted that cats were very commonly used as source domain; their depiction was significantly high with 25 memes out of 45, which is more than half. According to Herring and Androutsopoulos (2015), LOL cat memes can be viewed as a popular culture on the Internet. In these memes, feature pictures of cats are presented with superimposed text which is misspelled and ungrammatical. The rest of the memes used animals such as dogs, cows, donkeys, monkeys, and birds.

Figure 9 shows a meme that was retrieved from the Facebook page, Feel Zahri. The source domain animal behavior is cued pictorially (the cat) while the target domain is cued verbally yielding a multimodal metaphor. The TT sets the context of the picture by explaining that this is how your nephew will be acting if you take him to the supermarket and do not buy him 90 Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs. The nephew is being compared to the kitten in the picture; as the cat seems to be throwing a tantrum on the floor and the nephew is hypothesized to do the same in the event that he did not get what he wants. Surely, there is an over-exaggeration in the TT, and it is not just about getting 90 chocolate eggs but it is intended to add the humor factor and depict a real-life situation by using hyperbole. As the nephew’s behavior is understood by relating it to the cat’s behavior, we arrive at the sub-metaphor the nephew’s overdramatic behavior is the kitten’s weeping behavior. The mappings that can be identified is throwing a tantrum and making a scene. Other examples that contain the conceptual metaphor human behavior is animal behavior are provided below:

Figure 9.

Meme no. (164).

There were 45 memes under the source domain animal behavior; 38 memes contained multimodal metaphors, while 7 memes contained monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety. Monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety were not found in this corpus. In order for a meme to be meaningful to a large number of viewers, the designers of memes possibly try to make the message clear by either providing a text to explain the picture (multimodal) or to use plain text when they cannot find an image that conveys the idea. As far as the intertextual gaps in this category are concerned, again the portrayed behavior of the animals (i.e., the dramatic cat who throws tantrums, the unfaithful dog and the hypocrite cows) is similar to the behavior of the target human characters and as such the gap is minimized (Figures 10 and 11).

Figure 10.

Meme no. (172).

Figure 11.

Meme no. (178).

Adult Behavior is Child Behavior

To behave in a childlike manner is a metaphor often used to classify behaviors as irrational and incompetent and thus to be deemed as undeveloped or underdeveloped (Mills & Lefrancois, 2018). This analogy is again not specific to the Jordanian culture but could be regarded as a near-universal analogy. This group of memes contains the conceptual metaphor adult behavior is child behavior in which adults are perceived to be acting in a childlike manner. This source domain was the fourth most frequent one in the corpus with a total of 31 memes including 27 memes that contained multimodal metaphors, while the rest (4) contained monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety.

Figure 12 has been taken from Bump and it contains a multimodal metaphor. The textual element is present in different places around the pictorial element and is not just positioned as a bottom or top text like with the previously analyzed memes. The conceptual metaphor is the adult’s angry behavior is the child’s angry behavior. The source domain is cued pictorially (the picture of the angry child), while the target domain is cued verbally (the verbal cues) giving rise to a multimodal metaphor with the mappings: frowning, childish, and adult clothing. The TT provides an explanation to images of the same boy upset in three different poses by stating that this is how someone may feel when they get some tests done and pay a hefty amount of 100 JOD but all their tests come back good as if that money was spent wastefully. Although the person is saying good things like thanking God that they are okay and that money is not what is important and that health matters the most; however, their facial reactions, undertone, and body language are saying the exact opposite. They express the person’s disappointment and discontent for having spent all that money for nothing (see section 5 for more details). As far as the intertextual gaps are concerned, the gap is also minimized between children’s silly and immature behaviors and that of the target adult characters. Other memes that contain this conceptual metaphor are provided below (Figures 13 and 14).

Figure 12.

Meme (199).

Figure 13.

Meme no. (200).

Figure 14.

Meme no. (202).

Humans Are Objects

The data analysis showed that 11 memes contained the conceptual metaphor humans are objects with 7 memes containing multimodal metaphors, while 4 contained monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety. According to Hasyim (2017), conceptual metaphors that depict humans as objects are used in advertisements highlighting the fact that humans can be conceptualized as objects of consumption. Thus, the depiction is based on the nature of the object and the mappable features (see also Panther, 2002). This suggests that this CM may not be specific to the Jordanian culture but the objects and the mappable features could be.

Figure 15 was retrieved from Bump. It is another example of an image macro meme representing a multimodal metaphor; humans are objects, specifically garbage bags. The source domain is cued pictorially (i.e., the image of a scented garbage bag), whereas the target domain is cued verbally, yielding a multimodal metaphor with the mappings: disposable, unpleasant, and hypocrite. The picture is of scented garbage bags; the yellow is lemon-scented and the purple is lavender-scented [It is written in Arabic]. The TT describes the situation when someone you know asks you to believe that they are different from the rest of people you know. The person is requesting this because they want the receiver to trust that they will not cause them any harm. Nonetheless, the picture of the scented garbage bags suggests otherwise because even though they may smell nice [behave nicely], deep down they are still garbage. In the Jordanian culture, when someone is referred to as garbage, it implies that they are bad and hypocrite. Thus, the fact that the requester here is being compared to garbage, their plea to be trusted is revoked as the receiver realizes that they will turn out to be the opposite of what they promised and in this case, they turn out to be like the rest of the people. While garbage can be used in English to refer to worthless ideas, it is not commonly used to refer to people unless it is meant to refer to someone of low social standing, for example, scum, trash, etc. However, in Arabic, it is used to conceptualize bad character traits such as lying, betrayal, and hypocrisy. Thus, it can be suggested that a conceptual metaphor as near-universal (see Kövecses, 2010) as humans are objects can yield culture-specific metaphors that are circulated in memes. Other memes that contained this conceptual metaphor are provided below. With regard to the intertextual links, in Figure 16, drinking tea is commonly practiced in Middle-East culture so the use of the tea kettle is understandable. However, a tea kettle does not serve a specific value in a work meeting and thus is seen as purposeless. That being said, it can be argued that the speaker regards himself/herself as a pointless addition to any sort of business meeting; hence, it can be suggested that intertextual the gap between the purpose of the kettle and that of the target human is minimized. The same applies to Figure 17.

Figure 15.

Meme no. (222).

Figure 16.

Meme no. (223).

Figure 17.

Meme no. (225).

Abstract Concepts Are People

This cluster consists of six memes in which abstract concepts are perceived as humans with human appearance and characteristics. Four memes contained multimodal metaphors, while two contained monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety. Metaphors help in perceiving abstract concepts by drawing on concrete and familiar concepts and entities (Gibbs, 1994; Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). According to Kövecses (2010, p. 39), personification is a type of ontological metaphor where human qualities are mapped onto nonhuman entities. This type of metaphor is very common in literature and also abounds in everyday life interactions, for example, “life has cheated me.” Thus, it can be suggested that this type of metaphor could be regarded as near-universal as it is pervasive in everyday discourse in various languages.

Figure 18 presents the conceptual metaphor ideas are people which is a multimodal metaphor since the source domain is cued verbally, while the target domain is cued pictorially. The mappings that can be established are: unrevealed is good\beautiful, visible is bad\ugly. The meme itself consists of two pictures, the one on the right is of a good-looking well-dressed male and the one on the left is of probably a younger male but not as well-put-together as one can tell from his messy hair. Each picture is topped with a caption giving it a context, the one on the right described the well-dressed male with the hip-looking curly hair as the idea in the speaker’s head; it is well thought of and immaculate. Hence, there is a sub-conceptual metaphor, that is, an unrevealed idea is a handsome man when it remains unsaid. On the opposite side, the picture on the left is described as the idea when it is said out loud by the speaker; it is of a man with messy and tangled hair, thus denoting that an uttered idea is an unattractive man. This meme again reflects a common human behavior; people may spend a substantial amount of time thinking about what they want to say, but when they actually say it, it does not come out as planned because of many factors, for example, shyness, embarrassment, interruption from others, low self-confidence, etc. This metaphor could be found in other cultures, yet this should be investigated in another study on English and other languages. Another meme that contains this conceptual metaphor is provided below (Figure 19).

Figure 18.

Meme no. (232).

Figure 19.

Meme no. (233).

People\People’s Character Traits Are Food

This cluster contains five memes in which people are perceived as food. Three memes contained multimodal metaphors, while two contained monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety. According to Maalej (2004), the concreteness and familiarity of the food domain as well as the experience associated with it might make it a productive domain to facilitate the comprehension of abstract domains such as character traits and ideas, for example, “ideas are food” (Kövecses, 2010, p. 44). Not only abstract domains can be conceived of as food, human beings themselves can also be perceived as food, for example, “his eyes drinking her in” not only in English, in Tunisian Arabic, Maalej (1999, p. 197) proposed that the conceptual metaphor a human being is food which underlies many expressions such as “matišba3š mil-Razran liha (You are never full up with looking at her, i.e. You cannot get enough of her)” is very common. This suggests that this conceptual metaphor is not specific to the Jordanian culture, yet the choice of food could be culture specific.

Figure 20 consists of a monomodal metaphor of the verbal variety, namely, people’s character traits are food where both the source and target domains are cued verbally. The meme references the speaker’s character as something similar to Mloukhiyyeh (a Middle Eastern dish of cooked green leaves). Mloukhiyyeh is usually first chopped finely or put in a mixer before being cooked so when the speaker referred to his character as being similar to Mloukhiyyeh, it meant that his character is tangled up and is nothing like their physical appearance; and hence, the mappings are: tangled and messy. This conceptual metaphor may exist in other languages such as English, for example, you are my honey bunch, sweet pie, etc., yet it can yield cultural specific manifestations, for example, specifying the type of food and what it connotes in a certain culture. Other memes that contained this metaphor are provided below (Figures 21 and 22).

Figure 20.

Meme no. (240).

Figure 21.

Meme no. (238).

Figure 22.

Meme no. (241).

Objects Are Humans

This cluster presents only two memes where the multimodal metaphor objects are humans can be construed. In this sense, the objects are shown in situations where they are perceived as behaving like humans, namely, personification (see section 4.1.5).

Figure 23 presents a picture of an iPhone mobile device and a pair of AirPods, which according to the caption, are not pairing together because the AirPods are not recognizing the new phone. That being so, the creator of the meme exclaims sarcastically that they have left the two devices alone and side by side for a half an hour so they can get well-acquainted and work together. Since the target domain is cued pictorially while the source domain is cued verbally, a multimodal metaphor can be construed here, that is, mobile phone and Airpods are humans. The mappings that can be identified are: closeness and understanding. The other meme that contains the metaphor objects are humans is provided below (Figure 24).

Figure 23.

Meme no. (43).

Figure 24.

Meme no. (244).

Others

Some memes (n = 6) contained metaphors that appeared only once and as such do not constitute a conceptual scheme. Some of these metaphors are discussed here and categorized as “Others” (see Zibin, 2022b for information on “others”).

A monomodal metaphor of the verbal variety can be construed in Figure 25, namely, humans are infectious diseases. Both the source and the target domains are cued verbally and the mappings that can be established are: sickening, obnoxious and unpleasant. This metaphor draws on a famous Arabic saying: ينحط على الجرح يبرى “when [a good person] is placed on a wound, the wound heals” which is used to refer to good-natured people who are easy-going, sociable and pleasant. However, this meme alters the meaning of the saying to be negative, comparing obnoxious people to infectious diseases that cause gangrene. In Figure 26, a multimodal metaphor can be construed which is noisy neighbors are loud constructors. The target domain is cued verbally, while the source domain is cued pictorially and the mappings that can be established are: noise and disturbance. The TT provides an explanation for the picture of a constructor with a big drill and the speaker is saying that this is how their loud neighbor behaves (metaphorically) when the speaker wants to go sleep, namely, as a constructor with a big noisy drill that is disturbing everyone’s sleep. The verbal cue is an Arabic prayer which is recited before going to sleep and this is a clear cultural reference. Through analyzing the metaphors in this category, it became evident that they draw on very specific cultural references and this could be the main reason why these metaphors did not constitute a conceptual scheme that generates a number of either visual or verbal manifestations in the examined memes.

Figure 25.

Meme no. (246).

Figure 26.

Meme no. (247).

Having analyzed the metaphors found in the target memes in terms of modality and universality, the following section provides a quantitative analysis of the frequency of the source domains involved in these metaphors and frequency of monomodal and multimodal metaphors in the collected corpus.

Quantitative Analysis

Source Domains Frequency

The quantitative analysis shows the use of eight conceptual metaphor groups, listed from most to least frequent: cartoon behavior, acting scene, animal behavior, child behavior, objects, people, food, and humans. The frequency of use of each source domain is provided below in Figure 27, which provides an answer to the second research question.

Figure 27.

Source domain frequency.

Figure 27 shows that cartoon behavior was the most frequently-used source domain with 80 memes (32%). It is followed by acting scene which appeared in 64 memes (26%). The third most used source domain is animal behavior which appeared in 45 memes (18%). Then, the fourth source domain child behavior was present in 31 memes (13%). The rest of the source domains scored less than 5%; the fifth; objects appeared in 11 memes (4%). people scored 2% and food has the same percentage of 2%. human has the lowest percentage of all the domains with only two memes which amounts to 1%. The use of these source domains is discussed in section 5.

Monomodal and Multimodal Metaphor Frequency

The percentage of monomodal and multimodal metaphors found in the memes is presented in Figure 28 providing an answer to the third research question which is concerned with the most frequent mode configurations found in the metaphors used in these memes.

Figure 28.

The percentage of monomodal and multimodal metaphors in the collected corpus.

Figure 28 reveals that 90% of the mode configurations used in the target metaphors were multimodal, while only 10% were monomodal of the verbal variety. Monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety were non-existent in the collected corpus. This shows the prevalent presence of multimodal metaphors in the corpus. The following section provides a discussion of the data analysis presented so far.

Discussion

In terms of the metaphors being universal versus cultural specific (first research question), it was revealed that the metaphors used in the target memes are not specific to the Jordanian culture, yet the selection of specific entities of the source domains and the mappable features can generate culture-specific references. In this regard, it was argued by Yu and Dingding (2016), Sharifian (2017), and later by Zibin and Abdullah (2019) that conceptual metaphors are not random or arbitrary; they are grounded in experiential basis which emerges from the interaction between bodily and cultural experience. There are different types of experiences, for example, bodily experiences, but only some of them emerge from the cultural filter and participate in metaphor mappings. This interaction can give rise to a cultural metaphor. This suggests that the potentially near-universal metaphors or common cross-linguistic metaphors such as ideas are food can give rise to culture-specific metaphors when the latter passes from the cultural filter in the Jordanian context, that is, complex characters are mlokhiyyeh (see Figure 20). Another example is Human behavior is cartoon behavior, Mitchell (1995) explains that since cartoons are usually based on humor, they may contain cultural references. He also argues that cartoons are designed to draw their material from the cultural reality of the target speech community. This provides insight into why people often find it easy to relate to the characters they watch in cartoon shows because they are based on real cultural activities and scenarios of real life. Another example is found in Figure 5 which provides a cultural-specific scenario where the groom’s sisters are depicted as antagonist Disney characters; the use of language, the context, and the cultural stereotype demonstrate a reference that is relatable to the culture of Arab weddings. That is, sisters-in-law are stereotyped to be mean to the bride in the Arab culture; and thus, they are shown as the villains in Disney movies, yielding a culture-specific metaphor, that is, evil sisters’ of the groom are evil Disney female characters.

With regard to source domain frequency (second research question), it can be argued that the metaphors used in the collected memes are based on easily-grasped, potentially near-universal concepts that can be deciphered by a large number of audience; and thus, later be circulated and shared. This may explain the type of source domains found in this corpus, for example, animals, food, etc. These source domains give rise to a number of conceptual metaphors that can be regarded as common and pervasive regardless of the language used, for example, human behavior is animal behavior (see Kövecses, 2010). Due to their generality and pervasiveness, they may make ideal material to give rise to cultural metaphors through specifying certain entities in the source domains and mapping them onto the target, for example, an unfaithful man is a dog (see Figure 10). In relation to the use of certain source domains, it can be argued that metaphors used in the target memes were conveyed through the use of common source domains, word-image incompatibility, and intertextual links. According to Abdullah and Zibin (2021), the main effect of word-image interaction is providing a sense of inconsistency and irony which, in our case, makes the meme humorous (see also Schilperoord & Maes, 2009). For instance, in Figure 12 which features the metaphor human behavior is child behavior, the designer of the meme conveyed his\her viewpoint via establishing incompatible relations between the pictorial element (angry child) and verbal elements (positive statements about health being more important than money). This incongruity may create humor and encourage the viewer to question the message expressed to reach a certain conclusion, which is in this case that one may find solace in encouraging self-monologues to prevent any feelings of disappointment, which is a normal human behavior. Another important feature of the target memes is intertextuality, where numerous memes were based on previous pieces of discourse which are merely connected together into a new piece of coherent discourse. Briggs and Bauman (1992) argued that there is an intertextual gap which arises out of the intertextual relationship between a certain text (or talk) and an associated genre. It emerges as a result of the linking of certain utterances to prior text models which cannot produce an exact fit because even prototypical and faithful re-creations always introduce a variation on the theme. Yet, the gap can be suppressed to limit the difference or it can be foregrounded to maximize it (Briggs & Bauman, 1992; Hodges, 2015). Based on data analysis, it seems that the intertextual gap between prior discourse and the intended discourse in the analyzed memes is mostly suppressed to minimize the difference and make the meme easier to decipher (see Zibin, 2022a). An example is Figure 6, where the scene in which Omar dramatically collapses on the floor from a mere blow to the head (which is not supposed to knock him out) is used to make fun of dramatic people who press on video call rather than on view profile while viewing the profile of their crush. Minimizing the gap between the meme and prior discourses would potentially make the meme more meaningful and easier to comprehend. In this way, the creators of memes on Jordanian Facebook pages might favor the easiness of comprehension and a large number of likes over creativity and complexity since maximizing the gap might make the meme more challenging to understand (cf. Zibin, 2022a).

Concerning the pervasiveness of multimodal metaphors in the collected corpus (the third research question), it can be ascribed to the fact that memes’ creators could have intended to have their memes understood by a large number of people and that is why both modes (verbal and pictorial) were used. The low number of monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety can be explained by the fact that they could be less appealing to the audience compared to multimodal ones, since the former contains no visual cues. That is, since multimodal metaphors contains both texts and images, they are more likely to be persuasive and meaningful to the audience since they provide the wanted message in more than one mode (Koller, 2009). Similarly, in the field of advertisements, previous studies reported that multimodal metaphors are used frequently since they contribute to the persuasive and communicative function of advertisements (e.g., Forceville & Urios-Aparisi, 2009; Negro Alousque, 2015; Urios-Aparisi, 2009). Memes are, to some extent, an advertised product since they are aimed to be shared by a large number of viewers. Thus, containing images might make these memes more popular. However, monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety may be more difficult to decipher if they are not complemented by an illustrative text, which may explain their lack of occurrence in the corpus. These findings are in agreement with Phillips and McQuarrie’s (2004) study in which it was argued that processing complex visual ads requires more engagement from the viewers who perceive of them as riddles to solve, making the ads more memorable. However, other studies (i.e., Van Mulken et al., 2010, 2014) proposed that complexity has a negative impact on comprehension and sometimes appreciation by the viewers. Thus, it can be suggested that the use of monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety was absent in the collected corpus because memes’ creators intended to make the meme less complex but at the same time appealing. This function can be achieved by multimodal metaphors which contain visual cues that aim to capture the viewers’ attention and verbal cues which are used for clarification. Multimodal metaphors in memes may not only be a feature of memes in Jordan but could also be a feature of memes in other cultures as well (studies are needed to conform this suggestion). That is, the creators of memes may not want the viewer to spend extra time in deciphering the message in the memes; they may want to make it clear. In other words, they want to achieve a maximum effect with minimum processing effort (see Clark, 2013; Sperber & Wilson, 1990). These creators may care about receiving a large number of likes on their memes\pages more than being creative and risking the use of monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety when only a few number of people are able to understand them. In other cultures, this may not be the case. That is, monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety may be found in memes which could be intended to incite the viewer to decipher their meanings even if this requires exerting more processing effort. Such memes should be very creative in order to capture the viewer’s attention and encourage him\her to puzzle out the intended meaning. The genre can also play a role in the selection of the mode configuration of metaphors. In advertisements, both monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety and multimodal metaphors are used (Forceville, 2009), in editorial cartoons, multimodal metaphors are more pervasive (Lan & Zuo, 2016), in political memes, both types can be found (Piata, 2016). In the current study, the circulated memes did not tackle serious topics, they were merely created to be humorous and related to everyday discourse rather than being critical as is the case in political memes (cf. Piata, 2016) and as such multimodal metaphors were preferred in this study since the main aim of these memes is to be shared by a large number of viewers. The latter entails that these memes could be understood by the majority of viewers. This may suggest that within the genre itself, that is, memes, the use of certain mode configurations relies on the sub-genre, for example, political memes.

Based on the above discussion, it can be suggested that the main function of memes in Jordanian Facebook pages is to create humor relating to certain daily events. The communicative force of the metaphors used is derived from the popular culture, Internet subculture (e.g., cat memes which are used frequently in Internet circulated memes), or Jordanian cultural contexts that they refer to.

Conclusion and Recommendations

This study has explored the function of metaphor modality in Jordanian Facebook memes. The data analysis revealed that multimodal metaphors are used pervasively in the target memes, while monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety were infrequent, and monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety were not used. The following conclusions can be drawn from the data analysis of the collected corpus:

The use of metaphors in Jordanian memes is meant to evoke humor through the use of visual and verbal cues as a means of creating humor and irony of everyday events.

The high frequency of multimodal metaphors in Jordanian Facebook memes could be ascribed to the fact that Jordanian creators of memes may want to achieve maximum contextual effects with minimum processing time. The creators of memes might favor the ease of comprehension and a large number of likes over creativity and complexity, which explains the non-existence of monomodal metaphors of the pictorial variety.

The infrequent use of monomodal metaphors of the verbal variety in Jordanian memes could be attributed to the fact that such metaphors can be regarded as less appealing as they do not contain visual cues.

Memes may draw on word-image incompatibility which is meant to hook the viewer and to provide a sense of inconsistency and irony which makes the meme humorous.

Memes rely on intertextual links with previous discourses (both text and talk), but the intertextual gap between prior discourse and the intended discourse in Jordanian memes is mostly suppressed to minimize the difference and make the meme easier to decipher.

Near-universal metaphors are widely used in Jordanian memes drawing on common source domains, and culture can function as a filter of these metaphors generating specific mappings and in turn producing cultural metaphors.

In order to validate the above conclusions and determine whether they can be applicable across languages and cultures, more studies on the function of metaphor modality in memes in other cultures are needed. In addition, future research studies can explore the function of metonymy modality in memes.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Aseel Zibin

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The Function of Metaphor Modality in Memes on Jordanian Facebook Pages

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Theoretical Framework and Previous Studies

Methodology

Data Collection Procedure

Metaphor Identification Process

Data Analysis

Analysis of the Metaphors Used in the Target Memes

Human Behavior is Cartoon Behavior

Real Life is an Acting Scene

Human Behavior is Animal Behavior

Adult Behavior is Child Behavior

Humans Are Objects

Abstract Concepts Are People

People\People’s Character Traits Are Food

Objects Are Humans

Others

Quantitative Analysis

Source Domains Frequency

Monomodal and Multimodal Metaphor Frequency

Discussion

Conclusion and Recommendations

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iD

References