VERBAL AND VISUAL METAPHORS IN ENGLISH BIOGRAPHICAL CINODISCOURSE (A Study of Christopher Nolan’s «Oppenheimer» Script)

This paper focuses on the study of the role and functioning of verbal and visual metaphors in the biographical cinodiscourse, particularly the script and biopic “Oppenheimer” by the prominent British film director Christopher Nolan (2023). The research aims to define the thematics and functioning of verbal and visual metaphors in the cinematic depiction of Robert Oppenheimer’s life and career. Given the present-day interpretation of verbal and visual metaphors in their conceptual dimension, the study highlights their functions (descriptive, explanatory and humour-creating), content and interaction in verbal and cinematic biographical narrative. The paper reveals the role of such metaphors in shaping the protagonist’s figure, outlining his perception of the world and his ability to communicate in the professional and daily milieux. Relying upon multilevel linguistic means, the research results in reconstruing several conceptual metaphors that embody the key ideas, conceptions and arguments verbalised and visualised in the script and the movie. Getting deeper into the realm of visual cinometaphors allowed to better understand the predominant academic and sociopolitical atmosphere of the US in the 1940s as well as crystallize the biopic’s key topics, those of scientific progress contraversiality, moral dilemmas scientists might face, and the impact of their personal choices upon the fate of humanity and preserving self-identity.