Conceptual blending

in the fairy tale therapy

Magdalena Lach
Jagiellonian University in Cracow/
Université de Montréal
 Conceptual blending
Conceptual blending, also called
conceptual integration or view
application, is a theory of cognition
developed by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark
Turner in 1993.
According to this theory, elements and
vital relations from diverse scenarios are
"blended" in a new story which is a proof
of creativity of human beings and a
flexibility of language.
Blend
 Fairy tale therapy
Fairy tale therapy is one of therapies
within the practical psychology using fairy
tales for resolving a number of problems:
fear of darkness, fear of the medical
cabinet, loss of close relatives, friends or
problems with family relations.
The sense of the fairy tale is understood
on two levels: conscious and
subconscious one.
 Fairy tale
• Little rose
• Her friend butterfly
• Suddenly the little rose
begins to weaken
• Gardener wants to cut
out the rose, doesn’t
understand, he starts
observations, discovers
the Common Guzzler and
starts dosing rose with
expensive substances
 Objective
The aim of the thesis is to analyze how
conceptual blends- metaphors are used
in the fairy tale therapy.
The conceptual blending will be used to
analyze how an illness of a child is
transposed into a fairy tale, what
representation is given to a child, an
illness and an environment, as well as to
understand what can be done for a child
to simplify his path through the illness.
 Thank you
for your attention