CogSeminar: “Synecdoche and metonymy in semiotic mechanisms of CUTENESS” (Wanting Li, Sichuan University)

I start by proposing a theoretical framework for CUTENESS that distinguishes between two primary semiotic-rhetorical strategies, both of which are indexical by pointing to the infant or children, but are driven by different foundations. The first strategy is synecdoche, (understood as based on part-whole relationships rather than on set inclusion). This process relies on a biological foundation, namely the BABY SCHEMA (Kindchenschema), where infantile proportional features (a part), such as large eyes and a high forehead, are mentally associated with the infant (the whole), triggering a nurturing response (Lorenz, 1943). The second strategy is metonymy, which relies on a socio-cultural foundation and corresponds to WHIMSICAL CUTENESS, defined by a playful disposition and capricious humor (Nenkov & Scott, 2014). In this process, a relation of contiguity links unexpectedly playful or incongruous elements (Berger, 2020) to the interpreter’s consistent with prior experience of infantile expectation violation. I apply this theoretical framework to examples from digital avatars and make some tentative generalizations. 

Berger, A. A. (2020). Humor, psyche, and society: A socio-semiotic analysis. Vernon Press.

Lorenz, K. (1943). Die angeborenen formen möglicher erfahrung. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie, 5(2), 235–409.

Nenkov, G. Y., & Scott, M. L. (2014). “So cute I could eat it up”: Priming effects of cute products on indulgent consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(2), 326–341.