Abstract

This paper is about the analysis of the function in constructing metaphors by both image and words in scientific multimodal texts, involving the topmost biological journal Cell’s covers. The study of this paper departs from the aspect of representational meanings of Kress & van Leeuwen’s visual grammar to analyze the co-effect and the relation of image and words on visualizing the metaphor “CIRCADIAN IS A CLOCK”. Meanwhile, the division of the relation between image and words—complementary and non-complementary—by Zhang & Mu will be utilized also. The findings of this paper not only ascertain the parallel role of image and words in visualizing the metaphor, but also show their complementary relations with each other.

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