CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN STEPHEN HAWKING’S THEORIES
CONCEPTUAL METAPHOR IN STEPHEN HAWKING’S THEORIES

Summary/Abstract: This study investigates the conceptual metaphor in Stephen Hawking’s texts, with a focus on the volume ”The Universe in a Nutshell”. Starting from the theory of conceptual metaphor formulated by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, we investigate how structured conceptual metaphors (e.g., “the universe in a nutshell / as a miniature space,” “time as form,” “curvatures of the space-time,” “black holes as gates”) make complex theoretical concepts accessible to the general audience. The study identifies and classifies recurrent metaphors in the text, maps them to conceptual frames (container, path, mechanism, entity), and examines their discursive functions: conceptual modelling, establishment of epistemic analogies, reduction of abstraction, and rhetorical persuasion. The analysis combines qualitative methods of discourse analysis with tools from cognitive linguistics to show how metaphors not only illustrate science but to contribute to the formation of the reader’s mental representation of cosmological theory. The conclusion highlights the productive tension between scientific fidelity and communicative efficiency of metaphor, proposing criteria for the responsible use of metaphoricity in science communication and suggestions for further research on the pragmatics of metaphor in popular science texts.

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