VISUAL AND VERBAL REPRESENTATION OF THE PLAY METAPHOR IN LATVIAN POLITICAL CARTOONS

The article’s theoretical framework is set in cognitive linguistics and stylistics. It explores the progressing domain of metaphor research, which has expanded substantially since the 1970s, notably in investigating visual and multimodal metaphors in the last twenty years. The article aims to study the visual and verbal representation of the PLAY metaphor in Latvian political cartoons, applying conceptual metaphor theory. The need for this study arises from the limited understanding of the metaphorical thought of PLAY in the Latvian language and culture.The main research question studies the formation of the PLAY metaphor by distinguishing the conceptual mappings of game categories described by Roger Caillois – Agon, Alea, and Mimicry. The metaphor identification procedure of four stages – recognition, verification, comprehension, and interpretation – proposed by Anita Naciscione in 2001, is applied in case studies. The main findings highlight the cultural significance of the PLAY metaphor in Latvian thought, language and culture. The main conclusions demonstrate that every type of game category forms a distinct group of conceptual mappings, illustrating the sustainable nature of the metaphorical thought of PLAY. The original contribution of this study lies in its comprehensive analysis of the PLAY metaphor, providing insights into metaphorical thought in human perception and understanding in cognitive linguistics.