"A Cognitive Stylistic Analysis of Selected Conceptual Metaphors in John Gray’s Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus"

Relationship coaching is of great importance to have a balanced couple-life. Accordingly, the language used by the coaches and speakers, specifically in this field, has to be given more concern. That’s why the researcher has chosen to conduct research in this vital area. The current study selects one of the most world-wide relationship coaching-oriented books_ Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus (1992) _ written by the well-known American author and relationship counselor John Gray, to be stylistically examined from a cognitive perspective. The study aims at achieving three main objectives. The first objective illustrates how rhetoric and persuasive devices are employed in the selected book via applying the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The second objective demonstrates to what extent the creativity of the writer in the use of language affects the conceptualization and interpretation of the text. The third objective demonstrates how a better understanding of the text can be reached through incorporating appropriate schemas. The study aims at shedding light on the importance of style in using figurative language specifically in this type of texts. The study analysis is based on the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) proposed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and the Schema Theory proposed by Frederic Bartlett (1932). Conducting the analysis, the researcher has found that the coach employs three types of speech figures which are metaphor, simile and personification, with a focus on metaphor. Moreover, the researcher has deuced that the book, as life coaching-oriented, is based on simple tropes, with an aim to easily trigger the schemas of the target audience and to easily deliver the messages and pieces of advice to them^[i].
 
[i] This paper is extracted from the researcher’s MA thesis entitled in “Stylistic Features of John Gray’s Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus: A Cognitive Stylistic Approach”, supervised by Prof. Mohamed Mohamed Tohamy and Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Sa’eed, Faculty of Arts And Humanities, Suez Canal University.