“Leftie snowflakes” and other metaphtonymies in the British political discourse

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewelina Maria Prażmo
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Political ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Methodological Framework

Abstract The present paper deals with the use of deliberate metaphors in the political discourse. The potential of dehumanising metaphors to create derogatory descriptions used to disparage one’s political opponents is analysed. Also, metaphorical descriptions prove to be very productive in creating polysemy in previously monosemous items which are used in a new capacity in order to create an effect of novelty and surprise. This function appears especially useful in the language of politics in general, and the language of British politics in particular. The paper is maintained within the methodological framework of cognitive linguistics, focusing on the theories of conceptual metaphor and conceptual metonymy.

Heart and Cognition in Ancient Chinese Philosophy

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 27-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Yu
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Chinese Philosophy ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Political ◽  
Conceptual Mapping ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
Mental Power

AbstractFollowing the theory of conceptual metaphor in cognitive linguistics, this paper studies a predominant conceptual metaphor in the understanding of the heart in ancient Chinese philosophy: THE HEART IS THE RULER OF THE BODY. The most important conceptual mapping of this metaphor consists in the perceived correspondence between the mental power of the heart and the political power of the ruler. The Chinese heart is traditionally regarded as the organ of thinking and reasoning, as well as feeling. As such, it is conceptualized as the central faculty of cognition. This cultural conceptualization differs fundamentally from the Western dualism that upholds the reason-emotion dichotomy, as represented by the binary contrast between mind and heart in particular, and mind and body in general. It is found that the HEART AS RULER metaphor has a mirror image, namely THE RULER IS THE HEART OF THE COUNTRY. The ruler as the "heart" of the country leads his nation while guided by his own heart as the "ruler" of his body. It is argued that the two-way metaphorical mappings are based on the overarching beliefs of ancient Chinese philosophy in the unity and correspondence between the microcosm of man and the macrocosm of universe. It is suggested that the conceptualization of the heart in ancient Chinese philosophy, which is basically metaphorical in nature, is still spread widely across Chinese culture today.

scholarly journals INSULTS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS: DONALD TRUMP’S TWEETS THROUGH THE LENS OF THE SPEECH ACT OF INSULTING

2019 ◽  
pp. 139-159
Author(s):  
Džemal Špago ◽  
Adi Maslo ◽  
Edina Špago-Ćumurija
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Common Type ◽  
Political Campaigns ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Daily Routine ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
The Third

While insulting opponents is not something alien to politicians and political campaigns, Donald Trump has added a new dimension to it by making it almost a part of his daily routine. Moreover, his insults are often blatant and outright, rather than subtle and disguised, which sets a new tone to political discourse. The goal of this paper is to establish whether his insults are random rants meant to vent his anger and frustration with his critics and political adversaries, or rather a part of a calculated strategy aimed at political gain. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the corpus, which consists of 915 tweets published by Trump over a four-month period, and which was done within the methodological framework of the speech act theory and, in part, cognitive linguistics, show that Trump’s insults are not based on impulsivity and randomness. The results also suggest that, based on the way the illocutionary effect of insulting is achieved, his insults are realized in three distinct patterns: derogatory nicknaming, conventional and indirect insults. The recurring framing of political opponents by means of derogatory nickname-calling, by far the most common type of insults identified in this study, reveals a higher-level agenda on the addressor’s side. His intention is to methodically discredit the targets of his insults in the eyes of the third party, whose role and reaction in this type of political discourse become even more prominent than that of the insulted party.

The development of the journey metaphor in political discourse

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jurga Cibulskienė
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
National Development ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Critical Metaphor Analysis

The present paper focuses on the variation and dynamics of cross-cultural conceptual metaphor national DEVELOPMENT is a journey in Lithuanian political discourse. The paper aims to answer the question: To what extent do we share the same or different understanding of politics as a journey? Employing Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) (Charteris-Black, 2005) as methodological background, an attempt is made to look at variation of conceptual metaphor and metaphorical linguistic expressions within one political party, i.e. the Conservative Party, but at different periods of time. It is assumed that linguistic metaphorical expressions underlying the conceptual metaphor NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS a JOURNEY are likely to have a temporal character. The results show that metaphorical linguistic expressions underlying the JOURNEY metaphor alter significantly within one political discourse before joining the European Union and NATO and after it. Moreover, marked changes in conceptual metaphor have also been observed. Thus, the development of the JOURNEY metaphor shows ideological implications emerging in the political discourse of Lithuania.

scholarly journals A Study on Conceptual Metaphors in the Report on the Work of the Government (2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lan Luan ◽  
Weijie Sun
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
George Lakoff ◽  
The Government

The Report on the work of government (2020) is an annually political discourse, which provides a consistent topic to linguistic research. And conceptual metaphor provided by George Lakoff, is an important part of cognitive linguistics and a way of discourse analysis. From the perspective of conceptual metaphor, this study explores proportion and distribution of conceptual metaphor used in the discourse, and analyzes the function of major metaphors. It is proved that there are totally 12 categories of metaphors, which are made up of 8 major metaphor and 4 minor metaphor. The major metaphors function hierarchically and reflect effect of epidemic represented in the discourse. By analyzing the conceptual metaphor in the discourse, it is expected to shade a light on the understanding of metaphor illustration of the discourse.

scholarly journals Stratégies de désignation dans le discours politique catholique et protestant pendant les guerres de religion : le tournant décisif de la conversion d’Henri IV (1593)

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Sophie Yvert-Hamon
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Henry Iv ◽  
Referential Expressions ◽  
The One

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategies of designation in the political discourse of Huguenots on the one hand, and Ultra-Catholics on the other hand, during the period preceding and following the conversion of Henry IV (1593). Using Discourse Analysis as a theoretical and methodological framework, this study focuses on how the different actors (parties, the King) are presented in these discourses. The corpus is composed of two texts, both published in 1593. The first one is by the Duke of Mayenne, leader of the Catholic League, and aims to reunify all Catholics within the kingdom in order to annihilate Protestantism. It is written before the conversion of Henry IV to Catholicism and expresses the frustration of Ultra-Catholics at having a protestant king. The second text is by Philippe Duplessis-Mornay on behalf of the Huguenots’ political assemblies. It is a letter addressed to King Henry IV just after his conversion to Catholicism in 1593. This letter expresses the frustration of Huguenots as their protector converted to Catholicism. Analyzing the use of referential expressions according to the constructivist conception of the reference developed by Apothéloz and Reichler-Béguelin (1995), this study considers the referents as discourse-objects and the talking subject as acting on these objects. The study is qualitative and examines the different functions (argumentative, social, polyphonic) of the categorizations and recategorizations in order to underscore the discursive strategies of the authors. This paper argues that there are similarities in the way the different actors are presented in the two texts but that the perspective is essentially religious in the text by the Catholic League whereas the perspective is more political in the text by the Huguenots.  

scholarly journals POLITICAL METAPHOR AS A MEANS OF LINGUISTIC REPRESENTAION OF DONALD TRUMP’S IMAGE IN MASS MEDIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (17) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
Irina Bezrodnykh ◽  
Olena Konopelkina
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
English Language ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Image Formation ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Steady Increase ◽  
Professional Interest

The article under discussion has focused on the peculiarities the conceptual metaphor usage in the speeches of the 45th and current president of the United States Donald Trump. The topicality of the investigation is predetermined by the steady increase of professional interest of political discourse participants, mass media in particular, in the choice of effective instruments of political and ideological relations coverage with a simultaneous public request for quality of the politically directed content. The differentiation of political metaphor features and its functions in publicistic discourse is essential for the exploration of efficient linguistic means of impact on the political mediatext audience. Grounding on the empiric material analysis (leading English-language mass media) the linguistic factors of the leader of a democratic country political image formation have been considered. The characteristics of the use of metaphor as a multilingual means of a politician mass media image formation based on the contemporary mass media have been outlined. The article suggests a complex study of the use of political metaphor in the texts of English-language mass media with the emphasis on the leading tendencies of the political utterance metaphorization within the framework of the contemporary political discourse. The major types of conceptual metaphor, facilitating the political image formation, have been studied.

scholarly journals Direction Metaphors in Political Discourse: Imran Khan and the Rhetoric of Change

2019 ◽  
Vol IV (III) ◽  
pp. 56-61
Author(s):  
Lubna Umar ◽  
Umaima Kamran ◽  
Zubair Khan
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Cognitive Activity ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
The Political ◽  
Conceptual Metaphors ◽  
Critical Metaphor Analysis ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Gaining Insight

Journey Metaphors are among the most pervasive source domains used both in daily life and in political discourse as they follow a clearcut source-path-goal schema where the direction is a fundamental element. The crossdomain mapping between source and target domains is a means of gaining insight into the cognitive activity of the speaker. Metaphors of the journey are widely used in the political discourse generated by Imran Khan with special emphasis upon direction. Metaphorical expressions identified from speeches of Imran in both English and Urdu language have been analyzed using the Critical Metaphor Analysis approach given by Charteris-Black (2005) where linguistic metaphors have been interpreted semantically, pragmatically and in cognition to generate conceptual metaphors. Khan’s obsession with direction activates the PAKISTAN IS OFF TRACK conceptual metaphor necessitating a journey of change under his leadership. He highlights the failures of others to evoke images of a destructive past from which freedom becomes essential.

scholarly journals “The EU” and “Brexit” Concepts in the British Political Discourse: Cognitive Approach

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 27-32
Author(s):  
N. Pyliachyk ◽  
O. Vasylyk
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Eu

The paper deals with the cognitive features of “the EU” and “Brexit” concepts in the British political discourse. The study demonstrates that the political actors treat “The EU” and “Brexit” terms differently and resort to a series of strategies for the ambiguity of such concepts in the political communication. The analysis carried out in this paper shows that the meaning of the concepts is not something static but rather dynamic, which changes depending on the conceptual metaphor being imposed

scholarly journals The Role of the “Path” and the “Container” Image Schemas in Political Discourse in Kenya

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. p123
Author(s):  
Dr. Raphael Francis Otieno
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor ◽  
Schema Theory ◽  
Target Domain ◽  
Conceptual Metaphor Theory ◽  
Image Schemas ◽  
Metaphor Theory ◽  
Image Schema

The study of conceptual interaction has attracted the attention of many scholars in Cognitive Linguistics. Primarily, the analysis has focused on the role of image-schemas in the construction of metaphors. This study explores the PATH and the CONTAINER image-schemas and the role they play in conceptual formation of metaphors in political discourse in Kenya. The study presents the PATH and its subsidiary image schemas of Verticality, Process and Force-Motion and the CONTAINER image-schema and the subsidiary image-schemas of Excess and In-Out. The analysis reveals that both the PATH and the CONTAINER image-schemas structure the relationship between the source domains (journey and container) and the target domain (politics) by activating subsidiary image-schemas in metaphors of politics in Kenya. The study further reveals that image-schemas provide the axiological value (positive or negative) of metaphorical expressions in political discourse. A positive political environment is a key ingredient for green growth and knowledge economy. The study contributes to the field of metaphor in political discourse by examining the politicians’ conceptualization of politics as a journey, which consists of four structural elements (a source, a destination, contiguous locations which connect the source and the destination and a direction) and as a container, which consists of an interior, an exterior and a boundary. The study used the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) as a tool to establish conceptual metaphors used during the 2005 Draft Constitution referendum campaigns in Kenya and the Image-Schema Theory to account for the presence of image-schemas in political discourse in Kenya. Lakoff and Johnson’s (1980) Conceptual Metaphor Theory is the locus classicus of the image schema theory.

“I'd make thee eat the mischief thou hast vented”: Discourse of Law in Ben Jonson's Catiline His Conspiracy

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-45
Author(s):  
Akihiko Shimizu
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Gunpowder Plot ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Legal Procedures ◽  
The Way

This essay explores the discourse of law that constitutes the controversial apprehension of Cicero's issuing of the ultimate decree of the Senate (senatus consultum ultimum) in Catiline. The play juxtaposes the struggle of Cicero, whose moral character and legitimacy are at stake in regards to the extra-legal uses of espionage, with the supposedly mischievous Catilinarians who appear to observe legal procedures more carefully throughout their plot. To mitigate this ambivalence, the play defends Cicero's actions by depicting the way in which Cicero establishes the rhetoric of public counsel to convince the citizens of his legitimacy in his unprecedented dealing with Catiline. To understand the contemporaneousness of Catiline, I will explore the way the play integrates the early modern discourses of counsel and the legal maxim of ‘better to suffer an inconvenience than mischief,’ suggesting Jonson's subtle sensibility towards King James's legal reformation which aimed to establish and deploy monarchical authority in the state of emergency (such as the Gunpowder Plot of 1605). The play's climactic trial scene highlights the display of the collected evidence, such as hand-written letters and the testimonies obtained through Cicero's spies, the Allbroges, as proof of Catiline's mischievous character. I argue that the tactical negotiating skills of the virtuous and vicious characters rely heavily on the effective use of rhetoric exemplified by both the political discourse of classical Rome and the legal discourse of Tudor and Jacobean England.

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