A Cognitive Linguistics approach to internet memes on selected Polish internet sitesThe present study aims to analyse selected internet memes as examples of social communication from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics, and to examine more closely the relation between their visual and verbal aspects. Internet memes contain a wide range of constructions (necessary for rebuilding the semantic framework and extracting selected content), which are fragmentary but at the same time sufficient to induce a whole framework of meanings by using their salient features. The multimodal context is considered within the frameworks of conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), construal (Langacker, 1987, 2008), frame semantics (Fillmore, 1988), conceptual blending theory (Fauconnier & Turner, 2002) and Discourse Viewpoint Space (Dancygier & Vandelanotte, 2016). The paper will present an analysis of the structure of internet memes, which are rich concepts that spread rapidly and widely, and also invite recipients to actively participate in the construction of the message, thus becoming contributors. Memy internetowe na wybranych polskich stronach internetowych. Podejście językoznawstwa kognitywnegoMemy są często bogatymi tworami, łączącymi konstrukcje i zabiegi językowe z elementami wizualnymi, które pomimo bycia jedynie cząstkowymi desygnatami, pozwalają na wydobycie ram semantycznych oraz zrozumienie określonych treści z często fragmentarycznego przekazu obrazka. Przyswojenie komunikatu odbywa się przy pomocy wybranych elementów językowych i ikonicznych osadzonych w kontekście multimodalnym.Celem artykułu jest analiza relacji pomiędzy aspektem wizualnym i werbalnym w wybranych memach internetowych, rozumianych jako przykłady komunikacji społecznej, przy pomocy narzędzi językoznawczych, m.in. teorii metafory pojęciowej i metonimii (Lakoff i Johnson, 1980), obrazowania mentalnego (Langaker, 1987, 2008), semantyki ramowej (Fillmore, 1988), teorii amalgamatów pojęciowych (Fauconnier i Turner, 2002) oraz perspektywy narracyjnej (ang. Discourse Viewpoint Space) (Dancygier i Vandelanotte, 2016).

Given that our understanding of such an abstract concept as soul is almost purely metaphorical, this paper provides a comparative cross-linguistic analysis of the system of metaphorical conceptions of soul in Dostoyevsky's original Братья Карамазовы (The Brothers Karamazov ) and its Polish, Croatian and English translations. Special attention is paid to those metaphors that are translated differently between the various translations, either in conceptual or linguistic terms. This paper adheres to the cognitive-linguistic approach to Mind (Reddy, 1979;Sweetser, 1990;G. Lakoff & Johnson, 1999). Consistent with conceptual metaphor theory in general (G. Lakoff & Johnson, 1980;G. Lakoff, 1987;Grady, 1997;Kövecses, 2000;G. Lakoff, 2009; etc.), this paper's theoretical and methodological approach is based on Sweetser's (1990) analysis of the system of metaphors for knowledge, on G. Lakoff and Johnson's (1999) systematic analysis of the metaphorical conceptions of Mind and Soul, and on Štrkalj Despot, Skrynnikova and Ostanina Olszewska's (2014) comparative analysis of the metaphorical conceptions of ДУША/DUSZA/DUŠA ('soul') in Russian, Polish, and Croatian. The metaphors for soul were examined in a parallel corpus that consists of Dostoyevsky's original Братья Карамазовы (The Brothers Karamazov ) and its Polish, Croatian and English translations. Linguistic metaphors were detected using the MIPVU procedure (Steen et al., 2010). The main questions that this paper ains to answer are: Which metaphors for conceptualizing soul are shared by all the languages in question? Which metaphors are translated differently and why? If metaphors are translated differently, is the difference conceptual, cultural or linguistic? Does the type of metaphor (primary, complex) have any influence on the decision to translate the source language (SL) metaphor into a different one in the target language (TL)? What cultural differences are revealed through the analysis of the way metaphors have been translated to other Slavic and one non-Slavic language?

The paper sets out to examine the metaphoricity of mediatized political discourse, particularly, news reports dealing with the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in its initial stage, from November 2013 to February 2014, as reflected in Lithuanian and Polish online press. The methodology of research relies on the principles of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Metaphor Identification Procedure (see Steen et al. 2010) and metaphorical patterns (Stefanowitsch 2004). Metaphorical expressions were identified in contexts surrounding three main content words identified with the AntConc (Anthony 2014) programme in Lithuanian and Polish corpus: Kyiv, Ukraine and Maidan. The results suggest that in the mediatized political discourse, these place-names are usually conceptualized as an animal or, more frequently, as a person, experiencing difficulties, suffering, feeling lost, angry, also ready to fight and able to make decisions and act independently. Another image is that of a traveller to Europe, an almost mythical destination, which is reflected in metaphorical expressions and the newly emerging compound Euromaidan. Another, slightly less numerously represented, tendency is concerned with Kyiv, Ukraine and Maidan conceptualized as objects and institutions. They include containers for (hot) fluid, a chiming bell, a toy, garbage, theatre, school, etc. Most metaphors employed in the texts are evaluative. Culture-specific features in conceptualizing events in Ukraine are mostly connected with some deeply entrenched images, like furrows and rural life in Lithuanian, and positing Poland as Ukraine’s ally and friend in Polish.

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The paper sets out to investigate the interplay between image and text with reference to chosen cognitive models in order to pinpoint the image of distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bilateral nature of memes will be discussed in relation to the cognitive linguistics framework, in particular the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Kovecses 2002, Forceville 1996, 2008, 2009), Frame Semantics (Fillmore 1988) construal (Langacker 1987, 2008), blending theory (Fauconnier and Turner 2002), Discourse Viewpoint Space  (Dancyngier and Vandelanotte 2017).