Chang, D., & Li, Y. (2006). Visual representations of Kövecses’s conceptual metaphor “Love is Fire” in the Chinese Comic Old Master Q’. Bayreuth, Germany.

This article presents the cognitive-linguistic perspective that defines metaphor as understanding one conceptual domain through the lens of another conceptual domain. The term for this metaphor is “conceptual metaphor.” Metaphor is conceptual in nature and manifests itself linguistically.

However, since languages can manifest themselves in non-verbal ways, conceptual metaphors can also take on non-linguistic forms. Comics are a rich source of nonlinguistic metaphorical expression. In these works, conceptual metaphors are frequently rendered “literally.” A person in love may be depicted as a red-faced man. This paper examines the non-verbal manifestations of love in the Chinese comic album Old Master Q in light of Kovecses’ theory and other hypotheses on “LOVE IS FIRE.” It demonstrates that the depictions of love in comics are compatible with the most pervasive concepts. In this regard, English and Chinese share the same metaphor, “love is fire,” which describes the psychological effects of this emotion in the same way. In addition to the universality of this metaphor in two different languages, the study uncovered differences known as cultural variations.