Identity Construction through Metaphoric Manifestations in Omar Shahid Hamid’s Crime Thriller, ‘The Prisoner’

Abstract

Metaphors have traditionally been employed in literature as a stylistic feature to enhance the literariness of the genre. The evolution of metaphors through the literature foregrounds their multifaceted role in highlighting the overt and covert meaning construction.  The current study investigates the construction of identity of the main characters, through the specific employment of metaphors in the crime thriller, The Prisoner by Omar Shahid Hamid. The theoretical perspective of metaphor analysis is informed by Charteris Black’s frame work of Critical Metaphor Analysis. The metaphors are analyzed through the cognitive conceptualization and trans-domain mapping which delineates the role of metaphors in identity construction. The results of the investigation substantiated that the metaphors are employed in the text to construct the identity of the characters present in the novel, and readers can relate them to real life characters found in our society as well. The paper has implications of psycho-social and political settings and practices in the Pakistani society

Keywords: Conceptual mapping, Critical Metaphor Analysis, metaphor, identity conceptualization.