Visual Metaphor in Literary Covers: A Case Study of Symbolic Expression in Lu Xun's Call to Arms Cover.

While symbolic metaphor is pivotal in conveying narratives and emotions in literary book covers, research on visual metaphors remains limited. This study addressed the gap by examining the cover of Lu Xun's 1926 Call to Arms as a case study to explore how visual metaphors convey implicit meanings an...

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Publicado en:Wacana Seni Journal of Arts Discourse Vol. 24; pp. 17 - 35
Autores principales: Zhang, Xia, Che Cob, Saiful Akram, Mohammed Ali, Noor Azly, You, Xuemin, Wang, Yujue
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Universiti Sains Malaysia 2025
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: 2025
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        atl: Visual Metaphor in Literary Covers: A Case Study of Symbolic Expression in Lu Xun's Call to Arms Cover.
      aug:
        au:
          Zhang, Xia
          Che Cob, Saiful Akram
          Mohammed Ali, Noor Azly
          You, Xuemin
          Wang, Yujue
        affil:
          Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, MALAYSIA
          Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Conservatory of Music, 610500 Chengdu, CHINA
          College of Design, Guangxi Arts University, 530007 Nanning, CHINA
      su:
        Symbolism
        Book cover design
        Metaphor
        Lu, Xun, 1881-1936
        Chinese literature
        Criticism
        Literature
        Figures of speech
      sug:
        subj:
          Symbolism
          Book cover design
          Metaphor
          Lu, Xun, 1881-1936
          Chinese literature
          Criticism
          Literature
          Figures of speech
      keyword:
        Call to Arms
        literary cover
        Lu Xun
        symbolic expression
        visual metaphor
      ab: While symbolic metaphor is pivotal in conveying narratives and emotions in literary book covers, research on visual metaphors remains limited. This study addressed the gap by examining the cover of Lu Xun's 1926 Call to Arms as a case study to explore how visual metaphors convey implicit meanings and authorial emotions within the book content. This analysis adopted Wilcox's (2004) metonymic and metaphorical mapping model to analyse the symbolic elements on Lu Xun's cover. The findings indicated that the cover layout represented the "iron house" restricting the national spirit; the typography "..." embodied the New Youth warriors calling for the national awakening from sleep through their literary works; the colour black signified the dark social reality, while the red conveyed both the pain of revolution, as well as the desire for a bright future. This paper also employed a conceptual integration network to blend the three metaphorical meanings to construct a cohesive interpretation, a visual manifesto of Lu Xun's inner world for revolution. In summary, this study provides a practical analytical framework for interpreting the meanings of literary book covers, laying the groundwork for further studies.
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    language: English
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