IMAGERY IN TOURISM DISCOURSE: AN IMAGE SCHEMATIC ANALYSIS OF VIETNAM’S COASTAL LANDSCAPES

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Pham Dieu Ly

doi:10.59266/houjs.2026.1142

Authors

Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, Pham Dieu Ly

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59266/houjs.2026.1142

Keywords:

coastal landscapes, cognitive linguistics, imagery, image schema, tourism discourse, Lonely Planet

Abstract

This study investigates imagery in Lonely Planet’s discourse on the Vietnamese coastline from a cognitive linguistic perspective. Rather than approaching imagery as a set of stylistic or rhetorical devices, the study conceptualizes imagery as a systematically organized linguistic–cognitive phenomenon grounded in embodied experience. Drawing on image schema theory, the research examines how different sensory imagery types are structured through recurrent cognitive patterns derived from bodily interaction with space, movement, and emotion. The study adopts a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative analysis of imagery distribution and qualitative schema-based discourse analysis. The corpus consists of English-language Lonely Planet texts describing 10 Vietnamese coastal destinations. The findings reveal a clear hierarchy of imagery types, with visually oriented spatial imagery occupying a dominant position, while tactile, kinesthetic, and organic imagery function to support experiential simulation and emotional engagement. These imagery patterns reflect both cognitive constraints and communicative priorities in global tourism discourse.

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