Visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics a socio cognitive perspective

The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics: a socio-cognitive perspective shows how art and thought work together to express human emotions. Poetry comics mix pictures and words to create deeper meaning, and sadness often appears through storms, shadows, or silence. This approach helps readers in the USA understand how culture and cognition shape emotional images. By looking at sadness as both a personal and cultural experience, the metaphor becomes more powerful.

In this study, the visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics: a socio-cognitive perspective reveals how emotions become visible. It explains why sadness looks like falling, isolation, or overwhelming natural force.

Abstract

The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics opens a unique window into the human mind. It shows how drawings and words blend to represent deep feelings. This article focuses on a socio-cognitive perspective, meaning it looks at how society and thought together shape the way sadness is shown. The aim is to give readers in the USA a clear understanding of how metaphors, images, and emotions connect in poetry comics. The study also highlights how different cultures use distinct imagery to express grief and loss. By analyzing sadness through a visual metaphor of emotion, we see not only artistic creativity but also human psychology at work.

The value of this research lies in its depth. Sadness is not just a passing mood but a state often described with storms, floods, darkness, or silence. Poetry comics magnify this imagery, making sadness visible in panels and dialogue. By using a socio-cognitive approach, this article also uncovers how metaphors shape the way readers feel sadness and how they compare across different cultures.

CMT on visual metaphor of emotion

Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) plays a major role in understanding how sadness is shown in poetry comics. CMT explains how people understand one idea in terms of another, for example, thinking of sadness as heavy rain or as falling into a hole. In poetry comics, this theory reveals how images carry hidden meaning. A broken umbrella in the rain may show inner despair, while a shadow covering a character may symbolize loneliness. This makes CMT an important guide for studying the visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics.

By focusing on emotion, CMT shows why sadness feels universal yet still personal. It explains why readers can easily relate to characters drawn in dark colors, slouched postures, or sinking motions. The socio-cognitive approach reveals that these metaphors are not random. Instead, they grow out of shared cultural experiences and personal memories. Sadness in comics becomes something that can be recognized instantly, even without words, because CMT connects emotion with image in ways the human brain naturally understands.

also reaide: 20 Metaphors for Happiness

Theoretical framework and methodology

4.1. Theoretical framework

The study follows a socio-cognitive perspective, which means it looks at both culture and human thinking together. This framework explains why metaphors are more than artistic choices. They reflect mental patterns shaped by culture, language, and society. For instance, in American culture, sadness is often pictured as darkness or as a storm, while in Chinese poetry comics, sadness may be shown as falling leaves or the silence of winter. These examples prove that the visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics changes with culture but still shares human common ground.

This framework also links with cognitive linguistics. It argues that people do not just read words or see pictures separately. Instead, they combine them into a single meaning system. In poetry comics, this is especially true. A tear may represent loss, while an empty bench in the background may double that sadness. Together, these visuals and texts create layered meaning that reflects not just art but human thought.

4.2. Data and methodology

The study uses data collected from a range of poetry comics where sadness plays a central role. The sources included both American and Chinese works to highlight cultural variation. Each panel was analyzed for visual signs such as posture, color, and setting. Coding methods helped mark when sadness was shown through downward direction, natural force, or isolation. This method allowed researchers to compare frequency and identify which metaphors appeared most often.

The reliability of the data rests on clear procedures. Sadness metaphors were marked systematically and then grouped by type. These included metaphors of storms, loneliness, falling, and silence. The socio-cognitive perspective made it possible to see how cultural background shaped metaphor use. This approach ensured that findings were not only artistic but also scientific, providing a balance of creativity and analysis.

Quantitative findings

The analysis revealed numbers that show which metaphors dominate. The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics most often appeared as downward motion and natural force. These two made up more than half of the cases studied. Characters bending forward, sinking, or falling were especially common. Storms, rain, and floods were also frequent, showing how nature mirrors human sorrow.

Isolation and silence also appeared, though less often, making up a smaller percentage of the data. Still, these metaphors carried strong emotional power. In American comics, loneliness often appeared as a character sitting apart from others, while in Chinese works, isolation was shown through empty spaces or still landscapes. These numbers show how metaphors vary but still capture sadness across cultures.

Discussion

6.1. Being sad is being confronted with natural force

Sadness often feels like an uncontrollable storm, and poetry comics use this imagery to show its weight. Storms, floods, heavy rain, and even winds become powerful symbols of sorrow. When a character walks through rain, it is more than weather. It is a metaphor for their struggle against forces greater than themselves. This reflects the universal idea that sadness can strike like lightning and overwhelm the mind like a flood.

The socio-cognitive perspective explains why this works. People naturally connect bad weather with low moods. Rain darkens the world, floods destroy safety, and storms cause fear. These physical experiences provide the mental framework that comics use to draw sadness as a natural force.

6.2. Being sad is being physically isolated

Loneliness is another strong metaphor for sadness. In poetry comics, isolation is shown through images of characters standing apart, sitting in empty rooms, or trapped behind barriers. Sometimes walls or cages appear as symbols of separation from the outside world. This makes sadness visible as being cut off from comfort and connection.

For readers in the USA, this imagery resonates with cultural themes of independence and disconnection. It reflects the feeling of being left out or abandoned, which many recognize. By contrast, Chinese comics may use wide empty spaces, silent landscapes, or uninhabited streets to express the same meaning. Despite cultural differences, the metaphor of isolation captures sadness as separation across the world.

6.3. Sadness is down

One of the strongest metaphors across cultures is the idea that sadness points downward. In poetry comics, characters often slump, sink, or fall. Their eyes turn down, their shoulders droop, and their bodies bend forward. Even objects in the background, such as fallen leaves or sinking ships, echo this downward motion.

Embodied cognition explains this. Humans naturally connect low energy, weak posture, and gravity with sadness. That is why readers instantly understand sadness when they see a character falling or shrinking. The socio-cognitive approach reveals how this metaphor, while simple, is one of the most powerful and universal ways sadness is drawn.

6.4. Other types of metaphors

Other metaphors for sadness appear less often but remain important. Colors such as grey and blue dominate sad scenes, while silence and emptiness show emotional voids. Broken objects, cracks, and shadows symbolize inner pain. These may not be as frequent as storms or falling, but they still shape how readers experience the mood of a comic.

This diversity in metaphor use shows how sadness can be represented through many lenses. The socio-cognitive perspective highlights how each metaphor, no matter how small, contributes to a larger picture of human sorrow. Together, they enrich the artistic and emotional depth of poetry comics.

Chinese cultural characteristics of the conceptual metaphor of sadness

Chinese poetry comics carry unique cultural signatures. Sadness here often connects with nature in quiet ways. Falling leaves, snow, or bare branches symbolize grief. Unlike the American focus on storms and downward posture, Chinese works prefer subtle imagery. This shows how cultural traditions shape metaphors of sadness.

At the same time, some metaphors remain shared. Downward direction, isolation, and darkness appear in both cultures. Yet the Chinese style often uses stillness rather than action. An empty road in winter may say more than a storm. This difference highlights how the visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics reflects cultural meaning while keeping universal human connections.

Conclusion

The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics reveals how humans connect emotions with images. Through a socio-cognitive perspective, sadness is shown as storms, isolation, downward movement, or silence. Numbers confirm that these metaphors appear often, and cultural study proves they shift between American and Chinese traditions.

The study proves that metaphors in comics are more than artistic choices. They reflect deep cultural and cognitive patterns. This insight is valuable for readers in the USA who want to understand how emotions are shaped by both thought and art. Future work can expand on this by exploring other emotions in poetry comics.

Data availability statement

Data used in this study can be accessed by request from the authors.

Author contributions

Each author played a role in collecting data, analyzing metaphors, and writing the paper.

Acknowledgments

We thank the institutions, colleagues, and artists who supported this research.

Funding Statement

This study received financial support from academic research funds.

Footnotes

Explanatory notes and clarifications are included where needed.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

The publisher remains neutral regarding claims in this article.

References

References include academic texts on CMT, socio-cognitive perspective, sadness metaphors, poetry comics, embodied cognition, cross-cultural metaphor studies, and other related works.

Conclusion 

The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics: a socio-cognitive perspective shows how pictures and words join to explain feelings. It must reveal sadness in clear ways. Readers see storms, falling, silence, and isolation. The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics: a socio-cognitive perspective must help people connect art with thought. It also explains why sadness looks heavy, dark, or broken.

In the USA, this study is useful for culture and art. The visual metaphor of sadness in poetry comics: a socio-cognitive perspective must be seen as both creative and cognitive. It must also guide future studies. This focus must remain strong in research.