Metaphors, Creative Representation, and Self: : A Semiotic Analysis of Selected Short Stories by Arab Women Writers

Bushra  Al-Muttairi; J.A.H. Khatri

doi:10.35684/JLCI.2022.9104

Authors

Bushra Al-Muttairi University of Babylon
J.A.H. Khatri Navrachana University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35684/JLCI.2022.9104

Keywords:

Conceptual metaphor, Arab women writers' thought, Metaphor, Social forces, Semiotic analysis

Abstract

The present study investigates conceptual metaphors (CM) and raises a series of questions relevant to the study of literary texts by contemporary Arab women writers; what do the CMs identified in such texts tell us about women’s thoughts? Do such CMs structure Arab women’s thoughts? How do socio-cultural forces determine it? The present paper attempts to argue these questions by means of a semiotic analysis focused on the writings of three well-known contemporary Arab writers. The paper takes nine short stories by prominent Arabic women writers to understand the creative negotiation of their identity and social space. Through the semiotic reading of these stories, the use of various conceptual metaphors by the writers will also be discussed to understand their identification of self in the Arabic social structure.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Bushra Al-Muttairi, University of Babylon

Bushra Al-Muttairi is a university lecturer of Entire Linguistics at the University of Babylon, Iraq. She was awarded a Ph.D. from the School of Literature and Cultural Studies in the Faculty of Foreign languages and literature at the University of Bucharest, Romania, in 2018. She was awarded an M.A. in Entire Linguistics from the M.S.U. of Baroda, Gujarat, India, in 2009 and a B.A. in English from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Baghdad, Iraq, in 1993. She has been nominated as a program manager of International University Rankings at the headquarter since 2018, besides her tasks of teaching in the English Department at the Faculty of Basic Education since 2010. For more information, please follow this link: http://staff.uobabylon.edu.iq/site.aspx?id=17.

J.A.H. Khatri, Navrachana University

Dr. J. A. H. Khatri is presently working as an Assistant Professor at Navrachana University, where he teaches Communication Theory, Media Semiotics, and Film Studies. His Ph.D. is from Gujarat University on the topic, “Language in Media: A Semiotic Analysis of Advertisements in Print Media.” He has a Master’s in Linguistics from The M.S. University of Baroda, Vadodara, and a Bachelor’s in English Literature from Gujarat University. He has more than 15 years of teaching experience in core and applied linguistics and communication theory. His areas of interest are Semiotics, Language and Representation, and Linguistic Anthropology.