Metaphorical SPACE in academic talk

SPACE is one of the most basic semantic domains in language, and one which is routinely exploited in metaphor. This study explores how static space (place and position) is used in the academic talk of an EMI research seminar on theory building, investigating not only the metaphorical spaces evoked but also the ways in which participants in the seminar communicate their relationship with spatialized concepts. Three main configurations of SPACE are used in this data, corresponding to the CONTAINER, CENTRE -PERIPHERY, and LINKimage schemas. Each can be viewed objectively or subjectively; and it is in the subjective viewpoints that we discover how speakers position themselves with respect to their discipline, borrow ideas from others, seek to draw disparate concepts together, and discuss the difficulties they experience in their spatial relations with academic concepts and within academic groups.(c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.