Application of Conceptual Metaphor Theory in The Salesman Movie: A Study in the Cognitive Semiotics of Cinema

In case, based on the theory of conceptual metaphor, we consider the foundation of human thought as metaphorical and consider language as only one of the representations of conceptual metaphors, we should be able to consider conceptual metaphors in other representations such as still and moving images, sounds, music, etc.Accordingly, in this research work, the metaphorical conceptualizations of the Salesman film are examined based on the conceptual metaphorical theory of Likoff and Johnson (1980, 2003) and the theory of Forswell Multidimensional Mkkketaphor (2006, 2008). For this purpose, linguistic and non-linguistic representations of conceptual metaphors are analyzed in different sequences of this work. Examination of the data reveals that conceptual metaphors are widely used in this film. Some of these metaphors, such as the Iranian film “ Salesman” as a play about US made film “ The Death of a Salesman” or Tehran as New York in the 1940s, pervade the entire narrative of the film and conceptualize the similarity of the social conditions of the two societies.  And some, such as Emad as Mash Hassan or Emad as an animal, have been used to characterize the roles.