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prof. dr. G.J. (Gerard) Steen

Language and Communication
Faculty of Humanities
Capaciteitsgroep Taalbeheersing, Argumentatietheorie en Retorica
Photographer: Dirk Gillissen
Visiting address
  • Spuistraat 134
Postal address
  • Postbus 1637
    1000 BP Amsterdam
Contact details
  • CV

    I am professor of Language and Communication ('Taalbeheersing') in the Department of Dutch Studies, for which I currently serve as Head of Department. I previously held chairs at VU University Amsterdam in Language and Communication (2013-2014) and in Language Use and Cognition (2007-2013). Prior to that I had positions as lecturer at VU University Amsterdam in English Language and Linguistics (and before then in Poetics) and the University of Tilburg in Discourse Studies (CIW), and as instructor at the University of Utrecht (in English Language and Linguistics).

    For a recent interview about my work on metaphor in contrast with the work by Ray Gibbs, see the biangle interview by Katerina Rasulic published in Metaphor and the Social World 2017 (7:1): http://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/msw.7.1.09ras.

    An update of my views on metaphor can be found in my recent article on Deliberate Metaphor Theory: http://metaphorlab.org/deliberate-metaphor-theory-basic-assumptions-main-tenets-urgent-issues/.

    In January 2017, The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics, co-edited with Anne Barron and Yueguo Gu, was published with Routledge: https://books.google.nl/books/about/The_Routledge_Handbook_of_Pragmatics.html?id=ntDzDQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y.

    In June 2016, Genre in Language, Discourse and Cognition, co-edited with Ninke Stukker and Wilbert Spooren, came out with Mouton de Gruyter: https://books.google.nl/books?id=V4UqDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT9&lpg=PT9&dq=stukker+genre+language+cognition&source=bl&ots=0AyheYBwNq&sig=JKNnIoUHCuoWY6OknPkWdAzuIig&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiizfPLmc3NAhXKDxoKHc7BB3wQ6AEINTAD#v=onepage&q&f=false.

    For a complete CV, see the attachment.

    LIfe is life: Changing perspectives in linguistics

  • Research

    My research is about metaphor, genre, and language in discourse. I recently co-published The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics, with Anne Barron and Yueguo Gu (Routledge, 2017) and Genre in Language, Discourse and Cognition, with Ninke Stukker and Wilbert Spooren (Mouton, 2016). Many of my publications can be downloaded from https://amsterdam.academia.edu/GerardSteen.

    I am Principal Applicant of the NWO Vrije Competitie program 'Resistance to metaphor', with 3 PhD and 2 postdoc positions (2016-2021).

    I serve as advisor to Christian Burgers' NWO Veni project ‘Figurative framing: How metaphor, hyperbole and irony shape public discourse’, 2014-2017.

    I am principal advisor of the following PhD theses:

    • Jie Fu, 'Metaphor in aphasia', ACLC, UvA, 2016-2020.
    • Andreas Finsen, 'Resistance to metaphor in science', ACLC, UvA, with Jean Wagemans, 2016-202.
    • Kiki Renardel de Lavalette, 'Resistance to metaphor in politics', ACLC, UvA, with Corina Andone, 2016-2020.
    • Dunja Wackers, 'Resistance to metaphor in the media', ACLC, UvA, with José Plug, 2016-2020.
    • Britta Brugman, 'How metaphorical frames influence voters'decision in political decision making', with Barbara Vis and Christian Burgers, 2016-2020.
    • Romy van den Heerik, ‘Metaphor in health communication’, ACLC, UvA, with Christian Burgers, and Charlotte van Hooijdonk, 2016-2020.
    • Amber Boeynaems, ‘Dynamics of figurative frames in Dutch public discourse,’ with Elly Konijn and Christian Burgers, 2014-2018.
    • Gudrun Reijnierse, ‘The value of deliberate metaphor’, with Christian Burgers and Tina Krennmayr, NWO P-GW, 2011-2016.

    I am co-advisor of the following PhD theses:

    • Pia Sommerauer, 'Resolving distortions in semantic spaces defined by words by analysing relations between word, sense and reference', with Piek Vossen, NWO P-GW, 2017-2021
    • Anke Beger, ‘Metaphor in college lectures,’ with University of Flensburg, Flensburg Germany, 2011 – 2016, with Olaf Jaekel.

    I am advisor of the following postdoc projects:

    • Roosmaryn Pilgram, 'Testing resistance to metaphor', with Jean Wagemans, 2017-2018
    • Lotte van Poppel, 'Modeling Resistance to metaphor', with Jean Wagemans, 2017-2018

    My next invited talks about parts of this research are:

    • 'Deliberate Metaphor Theory and Style', Third International Communication Styles Conference, Krosno, Poland, 22-24 October 2017
    • 'Deliberateness and creativity in metaphorical language, cognition and communication', Metaphor: links between knowledge and semantical-conceptual innovation, Reggia Emilia, Italy, 9-10 November 2017
  • Teaching

    My teaching in 2017-2018 includes part of the 100 course on Leading Question in Cognition, Language and Communication in the BA CLC program, individual Tutorials in the RMA programs for Linguistics and for CIW (Communication, Rhetoric and Argumentation), and Research Internships in the RMA Cognitive Science.

  • Service

    In 2017-2018 I serve as chair of the Department of Dutch Studies, chair of the TAR group, director of the Metaphor Lab Amsterdam (http://metaphorlab.org), director of the research program on Metaphor in Discourse in the ACLC (http://aclc.uva.nl/research/groups/groups/groups/content/folder/metaphor-lab-amsterdam/methaphor_lab_amsterdam.html), and member of the advisory board of the ACLC (http://aclc.uva.nl/). I am also a member of the advisory board of Neuro Humanities Studies, University of Catania (http://www.neurohumanitiestudies.eu/), and of the Scientific Advisory Board Nederlab (www.nederlab.nl).

    I am chair of the Metaphor Festival 2017, an international conference in figuration, from 31 August through 3 September 2017 .

    I am Associate Editor of the journal of Metaphor and Symbol, and member of the editorial board of Tijdschrift voor Taalbeheersing, metaphorik.de, Scientific Study of Literature, Metaphor and the Social World, Functions of Language, Journal of Pragmatics, Language and Literature, and Review of Cognitive Linguistics.

    I am series editor of the book series Metaphor in Language, Cognition and Communication (Amsterdam: John Benjamins) and a member of the scientific committee for the Neuro Humanities Studies book series YouRS—Young Researchers Studies in Neurohumanities (University of Catania, Italy), of Valencia Press at Universitat Politècnica de València, of the book series Figurative Thought and Language (Amsterdam: John Benjamins), and of the book series Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts (Amsterdam: John Benjamins).

  • Publications

    2020

    • Reijnierse, W. G., Burgers, C. F., Krennmayr, T., & Steen, G. J. (Accepted/In press). The role of co-text in the analysis of potentially deliberate metaphor. In C. Di Biase-Dyson, & M. Egg (Eds.), Drawing Attention to Metaphor: Case studies across time periods, cultures and modalities (pp. 17-40). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
    • Wackers, D. Y. M., Plug, H. J., & Steen, G. J. (Accepted/In press). Violence metaphors for cancer: Pragmatic and symptomatic arguments against. Metaphor and the Social World, 10(1).

    2019

    • Bolognesi, M. (Ed.), & Steen, G. J. (2019). Perspectives on abstract concepts: Cognition, language and communication. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
    • Bolognesi, M., & Steen, G. J. (2019). Introduction. In Perspectives on abstract concepts: Cognition, language and communication (pp. 1-13). John Benjamins.
    • Cuccio, V., & Steen, G. J. (2019). Deliberate metaphors and embodied simulation. In Current approaches to metaphor analysis in discourse De Gruyter Mouton.
    • Finsen, A. B., Steen, G. J., & Wagemans, J. H. M. (2019). An argumentative reconstruction of the computer metaphor of the brain. Journal of Argumentation in Context, 8(3), 317-335. https://doi.org/10.1075/jaic.18019.fin
    • Nacey, S., Dorst, A., Krennmayr, T., Reijnierse, W. G., & Steen, G. J. (2019). MIPVU in multiple languages. In Metaphor identification in multiple languages: MIPVU across the world John Benjamins.
    • Reijnierse, W. G., Burgers, C., Krennmayr, T., & Steen, G. J. (2019). Metaphor in communication: The distribution of potentially deliberate metaphor across register and word class. Corpora, 14(3), 301-326. https://doi.org/10.3366/cor.2019.0176
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y., Andone, C., & Steen, G. J. (2019). Figurative analogies and how they are resisted in British Public Bill Committee debates. Metaphor and the Social World, 9(1), 107-130. https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.17027.lav [details]
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y., Andone, C., & Steen, G. J. (2019). I did not say that the Government should be plundering anybody's savings: Resistance to metaphors expressing starting points in parliamentary debates. Journal of Language and Politics, 18(5), 718-738.
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y., Steen, G., & Burgers, C. (2019). How to Identify Moral Language in Presidential Speeches: A comparison between a social-psychological and a cognitive-linguistic approach to corpus analysis. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 15(2), 239-265. https://doi.org/10.1515/cllt-2016-0007 [details]
    • Steen, G. J., Dorst, A., Herrmann, B., Kaal, A., Krennmayr, T., & Pasma, T. (2019). MIPVU: A manual for identifying metaphor-related words. In Metaphor identification in multiple languages: MIPVU across the world

    2018

    • Bolognesi, M., & Steen, G. J. (2018). Abstract concepts: Structure, process, and modeling. Topics in Cognitive Science, 10(3).
    • Bolognesi, M., & Steen, G. J. (2018). Editors' introduction: Abstract concepts: Structure, processing, modeling. Topics in Cognitive Science, 10(3).
    • Burgers, C., Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y., & Steen, G. J. (2018). Metaphor, hyperbole, and irony: Uses in isolation and in combination in written discourse. Journal of Pragmatics, 127, 71-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2018.01.009 [details]
    • Reijnierse, W. G., Burgers, C. F., Krennmayr, T., & Steen, G. J. (2018). On metaphorical views, dynamite and doodlings: Functions of domain adjectives in metaphorical domain constructions. Review of Cognitive Linguistics, 16(2).
    • Reijnierse, W. G., Burgers, C., Krennmayr, T., & Steen, G. J. (2018). DMIP: A method for identifying potentially deliberate metaphor in language use. Corpus Pragmatics, 2(2), 129-147. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41701-017-0026-7 [details]
    • Sorm, E., & Steen, G. J. (2018). VISMIP: Towards a method for visual metaphor identification. In Visual metaphor: Structure and process John Benjamins.
    • Steen, G. J. (2018). Visual metaphor: Structure and process. John Benjamins.
    • Steen, G. J. (2018). Visual metaphor: A psycholinguistic approach. In Visual metaphor: Structure and process John Benjamins.
    • Van den Heerik, R., Sorm, E., & Steen, G. J. (2018). Empirical motivation for VISMIP. In Visual metaphor: Structure and process John Benjamins.
    • van der Hel, S., Hellsten, I., & Steen, G. (2018). Tipping points and climate change: Metaphor between science and the media. Environmental Communication, 12(5), 605-620. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1410198 [details]

    2017

    • Boeynaems, A., Burgers, C., Konijn, E. A., & Steen, G. J. (2017). The Effects of Metaphorical Framing on Political Persuasion: A Systematic Literature Review. Metaphor and Symbol, 32(2), 118-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2017.1297623 [details]
    • Boeynaems, A., Burgers, C., Konijn, E. A., & Steen, G. J. (2017). The impact of conventional and novel metaphor in news on issue viewpoint. International Journal of Communication : IJoC, 11, 2861-2879. [details]
    • Brugman, B. C., Burgers, C., & Steen, G. J. (2017). Recategorizing political frames: A systematic review of metaphorical framing in experiments on political communication. Annals of the International Communication Association, 41(2), 181-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2017.1312481 [details]
    • Burgers, C. F., & Steen, G. J. (2017). Introducing a 3D model of irony: Irony in language, in thought, and in communication. In Irony in language use and comunication John Benjamins.
    • Burgers, C., & Steen, G. J. (2017). Introducing a three-dimensional model of verbal irony: Irony in language, in thought, and in communication. In A. Athanasiadou, & H. L. Colston (Eds.), Irony in language use and communication (pp. 87-108). John Benjamin Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.1.05bur [details]
    • Krennmayr, T., & Steen, G. J. (2017). The VU Amsterdam metaphor corpus. In Handbook of linguistic annotation Springer.
    • Negro, I., Sorm, E., & Steen, G. J. (2017). General image understanding in visual metaphor identification. Odisea: Revista de Estudios Inglese.
    • Steen, G. (2017). Deliberate Metaphor Theory: Basic assumptions, core tenets, remaining issues. Intercultural Communication, 14(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1515/ip-2017-0001 [details]
    • Steen, G. (2017). Identifying metaphors in language. In E. Semino, & Z. Demjén (Eds.), Routledge handbook metaphor and language (pp. 73-87). London: Routledge. [details]
    • Steen, G. J. (2017). Attention to metaphor: Where embodied cognition and social interaction can meet, but may not often do so. In B. Hampe (Ed.), Metaphor: Embodied cognition and discourse (pp. 279-296). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182324.016 [details]
    • van den Heerik, R. A. M., van Hooijdonk, C. M. J., Burgers, C., & Steen, G. J. (2017). “Smoking Is Sóóó … Sandals and White Socks”: Co-Creation of a Dutch Anti-Smoking Campaign to Change Social Norms. Health Communication, 32(7), 621-628. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1168000 [details]

    2016

    • Burgers, C., Brugman, B. C., Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y., & Steen, G. J. (2016). HIP: A Method for Linguistic Hyperbole Identification in Discourse. Metaphor and Symbol, 31(3), 163-178. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2016.1187041 [details]
    • Burgers, C., Konijn, E. A., & Steen, G. J. (2016). Figurative framing: Shaping public discourse through metaphor, hyperbole and irony. Communication Theory, 26(4), 410-430. https://doi.org/10.1111/comt.12096 [details]
    • Steen, G. (2016). Metaphor: Metaphor and style through genre, with illustrations from Caroll Ann Duffy’s Rapture. In V. Sotirova (Ed.), Bloomsbury companion to stylistics (pp. 308-324). London: Bloomsbury. [details]
    • Steen, G. (2016). Sensory-Motor Concepts and Metaphor in Usage. In L. Ströbel (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference "Sensory Motor Concepts in Language & Cognition" (pp. 85-108). (Proceedings in language and cognition; Vol. 1). Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf University Press. [details]
    • Steen, G. J. (2016). Mixed metaphor is a case of deliberate metaphor. In R. W. Gibbs, Jr. (Ed.), Mixing metaphor (pp. 113-132). (Metaphor in Language, Cognition, and Communication; No. 6). Amsterdam: John Benjamin Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/milcc.6.06ste [details]
    • Stukker, N., Spooren, W., & Steen, G. (2016). Genre in Language, Discourse and Cognition: Introduction to the volume. In N. Stukker, W. Spooren, & G. Steen (Eds.), Genre in language, discourse and cognition (pp. 1-12). (Applications of Cognitive Linguistics; Vol. 33). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110469639-002 [details]

    2015

    2017

    • Barron, A. (Ed.), Gu, Y. (Ed.), & Steen, G. (2017). The Routledge Handbook of Pragmatics. London: Routledge. [details]

    2016

    • Stukker, N., Spooren, W., & Steen, G. (Eds.) (2016). Genre in language, discourse and cognition. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. [details]

    2018

    • Steen, G. J. (2018). Een onontkoombaar verval of een plastisch en dus kneedbaar brein: Metaforisch denken en spreken over dementie. Neerlandia, 122(3).

    2016

    • Renardel de Lavalette, K., Burgers, C., & Steen, G. (2016). Verzorgende ouder of strenge vader: Morele metaforen in Amerikaanse politiek. Tekst[blad], 22(2), 12-15. [details]

    Journal editor

    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2018). Lingua (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2015). John Benjamins (Publisher).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2015). Tijdschrift voor Taalbeheersing (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (editor) (2011). Scientific Study of Literature (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2011). metaphorik.de (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (editor) (2010). John Benjamins (Publisher).
    • Steen, G. (editor) (2010-2019). John Benjamins (Publisher).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2010). Metaphor and the Social World (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2003). Journal of Pragmatics (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2003). Functions of Language (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2003). Language and Literature (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (member of editorial board) (2002). Review of Cognitive Linguistics (Journal).
    • Steen, G. (editor) (2002). Metaphor and Symbol (Journal).

    Talk / presentation

    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. (speaker), Andone, C. (speaker) & Steen, G. (speaker) (24-6-2019). Figurative analogy argumentation in British Public Bill Committee debates, European Conference in Argumentation, Groningen.
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. (speaker), Andone, C. (speaker) & Steen, G. (speaker) (16-5-2019). Figurative analogy argumentation in British Public Bill Committee debates, The 7th Researching and Applying Metaphor seminar, Liege, Belgium.
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y. (speaker), Andone, C. (speaker) & Steen, G. (speaker) (7-2018). Countering metaphors expressing starting points in political debates, The 9th Conference of the International Society for the Study of Argumentation, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. (speaker), Andone, C. (speaker) & Steen, G. (speaker) (7-2-2018). Countering figurative analogies in British Public Bill Committee debates, ARGAGE 2018 Conference, Lugano, Switzerland.
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y. (speaker), Andone, C. (speaker) & Steen, G. (speaker) (2018). Countering metaphors expressing starting points in political debates, The 12th International conference on researching and applying metaphor, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (9-11-2017). Deliberateness and creativity in metaphorical language, cognition and communication, Metaphor, Reggio Emila, Italy.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (23-10-2017). Deliberate Metaphor Theory (DMT and style, Third international communication styles conference, Krosno, Poland.
    • Renardel de Lavalette, K. Y. (speaker), Andone, C. (speaker) & Steen, G. J. (speaker) (31-8-2017). Resistance to metaphor in British Public Bill Committee Debates, Metaphor Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (31-7-2017). Analogy, utterance comprehension, and metaphor, Symposium abstract relational thinking: metaphor, spatial representation, and creativity, Paris, France.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (25-5-2017). Metaphor and argumentation in discourse, Metaphor and argumentation, Cagliari, Italy.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (22-5-2017). Metaphor and cognition, Metaphors of the mind, Roma, Italy.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (23-2-2017). Metaphor as a model of scientific knowledge, Sapienza University Rome.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (10-10-2016). A model for metaphor in scientific knowledge and science communication, Metaphor as a means of knowledge communication, Perm, Russian Federation.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (30-9-2016). Stijl tussen taal en communicatie, Neerlandistiek met stijl, Leiden, Netherlands.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (7-7-2016). Core conepts of DMT, The premeditated path, Berlin, Germany.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (19-5-2016). Food as metaphor, Second international conference on food and culture in translation, Catania, Italy.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (14-4-2016). Language and discourse via genre, 10th international IDEA conference, Istanbul, Turkey.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (2-12-2015). Life is life, Metaphor and discourse IV, Castellon de la Plana, Spain.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (23-10-2015). Life, metaphor and beer, ELLSTAT 5, Belgrade, Serbia.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (7-10-2015). Metaphor in The Cancer Poetry Project, Vth international conference on metaphor in language and thought, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (3-7-2015). MIP, VIP, and HIP, 2nd reliability workshop, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (8-6-2015). Why Deliberate Metaphor Theory does have a future, University of Palermo.
    • Steen, G. (keynote speaker) (6-6-2015). Discourse conditions for creative metaphor use, 2nd international neuro humanities studies dialogue, Catania, Italy.
    • Steen, G. (invited speaker) (19-3-2015). A 3D model for metaphor, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou.

    2017

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