The role of metaphor and metonymy in constructing the image of a university

The aim of this paper is to identify metaphors and metonymies used in selected documents (“About” pages, reports, strategies etc.) of leading universities in five regions: China, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and North America (Canada and the United States). The research framework is provided by the theory of conceptual metaphor proposed by Lakoff and Johnson in Metaphors We Live By (1980). In their documents, the universities frequently employ animalization and personification, building metaphors and travel metaphors as well as the metonymy BODY PART FOR THE HUMAN BEING. The identified metaphorical and metonymic expressions are conventional, and their role is to facilitate creating the image of the universities as living, vibrant institutions, ready to change and react to the challenges posed by the modern world.