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Article In: Review of Cognitive Linguistics: Online-First Articles

The black hole fed on the star

Conceptualizing black holes through metaphor in popular science YouTube communication

 | University of PannoniaVeszprém
ORCiD logo with link | University of PannoniaVeszprém
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Abstract
Humans have long made sense of cosmic phenomena through familiar concepts from everyday experience, such as agency, intentionality, and personification. While the explanatory frameworks through which we understand the cosmos have evolved, contemporary scientific discourse increasingly addresses phenomena that are abstract, counterintuitive, and beyond direct observation. This study examines how popular science YouTube channels employ conceptual metaphors to make black hole and event horizon comprehensible to general audiences. The analysis is grounded in Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff, George, & Johnson, Mark. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), Sharifian, Farzad. (2017). Cultural linguistics: Cultural conceptualizations and language. John Benjamins.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar framework of cultural cognition, and folk theory. The findings suggest that YouTube science communicators activate existing folk theories about monsters and predators (Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew. (2017). Invisible monsters: Vision, horror, and contemporary culture. In A. S. Mittman & P. J. Dendle (Eds.), The ashgate research companion to monsters and the monstrous (pp. 235–250). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), containment (Dewell, Robert. (2005). Dynamic patterns of CONTAINMENT. In B. Hampe (Ed.), From perception to meaning: Image schemas in cognitive linguistics (pp. 369–394). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Johnson, Mark. (1987). The body in the mind: The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. University of Chicago Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and force dynamics (Talmy, Leonard. (1988). Force dynamics in language and cognition. Cognitive Science, 12(1), 49–100. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) to make the abstract properties of black holes comprehensible to the public. The study proposes that science communication constitutes a form of shared cultural-cognitive negotiation on YouTube.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1Making sense of the cosmos
    • 2.2The black hole as cultural conceptualization
    • 2.3Image schemas and black hole physics
  • 3.Methodology and data
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Cosmic phenomenon as living entity
      • 1.Black hole is a cosmic monster
      • 2.black hole is a hungry creature
      • 3.event horizon is a protector
    • 4.2Cosmic phenomenon as a container
      • 1.black hole is a territory
      • 2.event horizon is a one-way border
    • 4.3Cosmic phenomenon as an object
      • 1.Black hole is a vacuum cleaner
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Black hole as cosmic monster
    • 5.2Black hole as consuming agent
    • 5.3Black hole as moral character
    • 5.4Event horizon and black hole as container and contained
    • 5.5Negotiation of black hole in cultural cognition
  • 6.Implications and conclusion
  • Author queries
  • References
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