Research Article

Money Metaphors We Live By: Analyzing Chinese Comic Books based on CMA

Authors

  • Yajun Jiang School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China
  • Lina Paola Ángel Jiménez School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, China

Abstract

Chinese comic books appear to be filled with bright colors and interesting characters, but they also offer insight into the daily life relations and societal principles of modern China. In this study, we examined the construction and underlying meanings of money metaphors in Zhu Deyong’s comic book series We Are All Patients, and We Are All Patients 2: Love with an Idiot, using the conceptual metaphor theory (CMT). By mapping abstract concepts into more concrete and familiar domains, CMT conveys complex ideas, emotions, and social commentary in a way that readers can easily understand. We analyzed thirty-nine randomly chosen comic strips from Zhu’s comic books using Charteris-Black’s (2004) inductive method, conceptual metaphor analysis (CMA), to identify, explain, and interpret different metaphors. Through our analysis, we highlighted the most prominent money metaphors and how they relate to the current love and friendship relations made by modern Chinese people in their everyday lives. We found that money metaphors are classified into seven source domains: barrier, drug, tool, almighty, exchange, principle, and ambition.

Article information

Journal

International Journal of Literature Studies

Volume (Issue)

4 (1)

Pages

11-20

Published

2024-01-18

How to Cite

Jiang, Y., & Jiménez, L. P. Ángel. (2024). Money Metaphors We Live By: Analyzing Chinese Comic Books based on CMA. International Journal of Literature Studies, 4(1), 11–20. https://doi.org/10.32996/ijts.2024.4.1.2

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Keywords:

Conceptual metaphor, Critical Metaphor Analysis; Chinese comic books; Money metaphors