Research trends in multimodal metaphor: a bibliometric analysis

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Communication Studies
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Multimodal metaphor is a significant area of academic inquiry.
• A comprehensive bibliometric review of this field has been notably absent.
• This study addresses the need for a systematic overview of multimodal metaphor research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a bibliometric analysis of multimodal metaphor research from 1977 to 2022.
• To identify key trends, productive regions, and influential publications.
• To map the intellectual structure and emerging themes within the field.

Main Methods:

• Bibliometric analysis of 397 publications from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC).
• Utilized VOSviewer for data visualization and network analysis.
• Qualitative observation to identify research trends.

Main Results:

• Publication surge observed from 2010, following Forceville's (2009) work.
• USA, China, and Spain are the most productive countries.
• Key research clusters include visual metaphor, persuasion, and multimodal communication.
• Identified three main research trends driven by cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, and rhetoric.

Conclusions:

• The field of multimodal metaphor is rapidly expanding, particularly since 2010.
• International collaboration and specific journal types are crucial for dissemination.
• Future research can be guided by cognitive linguistic, pragmatic, and rhetorical theoretical frameworks.