Abstract

Incorporating conceptual and discoursal perspectives, this study examines multimodal conceptual metaphors occurring in university advertisement posters. These posters offer a unique window onto the creative operation of cognitive mechanisms in the production of images and texts designed to work together to convey a message. Based on a dataset of posters promoting South Korean universities, the study explores (1) what metaphors emerge from interaction across modes; (2) how multimodal metaphoric creativity facilitates recontextualized framing; and (3) what social perspectives, values, ideologies, and cultural underpinnings of the society’s education discourse are conveyed in the posters via metaphors. From the conceptual perspectives, the mapping relations manifested in both visual and verbal modes reveal several overarching frames in various metaphor scenarios, reflecting different levels of generality through recontextualization. From the discoursal perspectives, the study shows that discourse stances regarding the perception, purpose, progress, and process of education are based on social attitudes, embodied experiences, cultural values, and ideologies linked to contemporary South Korean lifestyles. The study discusses the discoursal views on education that are manifested in multimodal metaphors related to self-growth, national and global competitiveness, the national identity of Koreanness, and the idea of building human capital and facilitating employment.