Conceptual metaphors in the public speeches of Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin (2014-2015)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26565/2218-2926-2016-13-04Keywords:
conceptual metaphors, ideological key concepts, methodology for multiple data, Obama and Putin, political discourseAbstract
This pilot study discusses conceptual metaphors reconstructed via analysis of linguistic metaphorical expressions (ME) which, being conventional for political discourse, signify POLITICS, ECONOMY, and AMERICA / RUSSIA target conceptual domains as the highlights of the politicians’ public speeches. The data – ME coming from B. Obama’s and V. Putin’s speeches obtained from official Internet resources – are processed according to the methodology developed earlier by the author of this paper. Grounded on the findings of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, this methodology represents an algorithm for exposure and further description of conceptual metaphors employed in a thematically coherent discourse, and manifested by multiple ME numbering dozens and over. Their analysis, aiming to portray the metaphorical system as a whole, enables an in-depth study of the target and source conceptual domains, and a thorough account of their cross-mapping influenced by the discourse type. In this study, focused on political discourse, the systems of conceptual metaphors tracked in the public speeches of each president are regarded separately and in comparison. The obtained results expose the speakers’ ideological worldviews, and the workings of conceptual metaphors as instruments for exerting influence on the public. The supplement to this paper demonstrates reconstruction of conceptual metaphors in the speeches of each politician, and compares these speeches with regard to ideological key concepts of the metaphoric narrative.
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