A case study of building and animal metaphors in specialized discourse: Are scholars’ metaphorical conceptualizations represented in discourse?

Abstract

This study provides corpus-based evidence for the claim that metaphorical conceptualizations postulated by scholars in a particular discipline are expressed in specialized discourse. Scholars often propose alternative metaphors to address particular issues, and these metaphors may become more or less linguistically productive in specialized discourse. This corpus-based study looks into project management discourse to find evidence of two conceptual metaphors, proposed by scholars to enhance the understanding and management of real-life projects. The Chinese wall metaphor (Angling, 1988) was first postulated to depict situations in which several projects are managed simultaneously in a stone wall building-like manner. The alternative Chinese dragon metaphor (Eskerod, 1996) was later proposed to highlight the complexity and unpredictability of multi-project management. This study follows Philip's (2010) method to identify conceptual metaphors or metaphor themes in specialized discourse. The corpus of nearly 400,000 words used in this study included research papers as well as periodical journal articles. The results show a higher frequency and a broader range of metaphorical expressions for the animal theme, including the Chinese dragon metaphor. The study discusses how metaphorbased theoretical claims are reflected in specialized discourse and the consequences for management practices. ResumenEste estudio aporta pruebas basadas en los datos de corpus sobre cómo las conceptualizaciones metafóricas postuladas por los académicos en una disciplina encuentran su expresión en el discurso especializado. Los académicos a menudo proponen aproximaciones teóricas alternativas para afrontar problemáticas concretas. Estas aproximaciones pueden llegar a ser más o menos productivas a nivel lingüístico en el discurso especializado. En este trabajo se analiza el discurso sobre la gestión de proyectos para buscar evidencias del uso de las metáforas conceptuales que en su momento fueron propuestas por los académicos para mejorar el entendimiento y la gestión de los proyectos reales. La metáfora de la muralla china (Angling, 1988) fue postulada para describir las situaciones en las que se gestionan simultáneamente varios proyectos de una manera similar a la construcción de un muro. La alternativa metáfora del dragón chino (Eskerod, 1996) fue lanzada para realzar la complejidad de la gestión de proyectos múltiples. El estudio siguió el método de Philip (2010) para identificar las metáforas conceptuales o temas metafóricos en el discurso especializado. Un corpus de aproximadamente 400.000 palabras que incluye artículos de investigación, así como los artículos de revistas profesionales fue creado para este estudio. Los resultados obtenidos muestran los usos más frecuentes y expresiones metafóricas más variadas correspondientes al tema metafórico de animales, incluyendo la metáfora del dragón chino. El estudio comenta como las reivindicaciones basadas en metáforas se reflejan en el discurso especializado y sus consecuencias para...

Leading by Metaphors –A Case Study of a Mega IT Project in a Danish Bank

“…An early use of metaphors is Angling's (1988) study of multi-project management which he characterizes as building the Great Wall of China, while Eskerod (1996) also studied multi-project management but used the Chinese dragon as metaphor. Eskerod's (1996) use of metaphor is in stark contrast to Angling's (1988) as elaborated by Skorczynska (2014) where the Chinese Wall implies order and predictability while the Chinese dragon suggest constant change and dynamism -this underlines Morgan's (1997) statement about seeing and not seeing with metaphors. A very well cited metaphor within project management is that "projects are temporary organizations" (Lundin and Söderholm, 1995;Packendorff, 1995) which originates from the Scandinavian school of project studies, which looks at how projects enfold as temporary organizations and how they are embedded in permanent organizations and wider environments (the contexts) (Sahlin-Andersson and Söderholm, 2002).…”

“…A very well cited metaphor within project management is that "projects are temporary organizations" (Lundin and Söderholm, 1995;Packendorff, 1995) which originates from the Scandinavian school of project studies, which looks at how projects enfold as temporary organizations and how they are embedded in permanent organizations and wider environments (the contexts) (Sahlin-Andersson and Söderholm, 2002). Other examples include modern software projects characterized as zeppelins and jet planes (Armour, 2001), applying metaphors in product innovation (Seidel and O'Mahony, 2014), where one of the examples is a car specification using "pocket rocket" as metaphor (Seidel and O'Mahony, 2014, p. 693), and lastly a study of using building and animal metaphors in project management discourse (Skorczynska, 2014).…”