К. ф. н. Еремия Н.Л., Булатова Д.М.

Кокшетауский госуниверситет им. Ш. Уалиханова, Казахстан

Metaphor in political discourse

Political discourse, in the opinion of Van Dijk [1] is not a genre, but a class of genres defined by a social domain, namely that of politics. Thus, government deliberations, parliamentary debates, party programs and politicians’ speeches are among the many genres that belong to the domain of politics. It can't be the task of this paper to precisely define that domain; its aim is to show the use and role of metaphor in political discourse. According to Znamenskaya [2], metaphor is the application of a word or phrase to an object or concept it does not literally denote, in order to suggest comparison with another object or concept.

Politics is one of the social domains, whose practices are, in fact, exclusively discursive; political cognition is by definition ideologically based; and political ideologies are largely reproduced by discourse.

Politics, like all spheres of social activity, has its own code. Some linguistic rituals, involving vocabulary, grammar and discourse are significant features of various political activities. Language tells us a great deal about the ideology of those who use it- including politicians, and those who report on the work of politicians. In A. Beard’s opinion [3], the language is not merely the tool of cynical manipulation; that because you can report the same story in different ways there are no such things as ethical or moral behavior, that one political policy is no more fair and just than another. Language is a means of communication, a means of presenting and shaping argument and political argument is ideological, in that it comes from a series of beliefs. The language is not something somehow separate from the ideas it contains, but the way language is used says a great deal about how the ideas have been shaped. When analyzing the language of a political text, therefore it is important to look at the way the language reflects the ideological position of those who have created it, and how the ideological position of the readers will affect their response too.

To bring some ideology home to the reader the authors of political texts often resort to the stylistic device of metaphor. As Acad. V. V. Vinogradov puts it [4], a metaphor, if it is not a cliché, is an act of establishing an individual world outlook, it is an act of subjective violation. As a rule, it imposes on the reader a subjective view of the object or phenomenon and its semantic ties. B. A. Akhatova states to this effect: “In a political discourse one and the same outlook can be evaluated from the point of view of one political position as reactionary, and from the other- as liberal.” [5] Adrian Beard considers, for example, that two common sources of metaphor in politics are sport and war, both of which involve physical contests of some sort. Both politicians themselves, and those who report politics, use these metaphors. Boxing metaphors are particularly common, conveying a sense of toughness and aggression, especially when an election is seen as a fight between two main protagonists who are nearly always male. When the British Election of 1997 was announced, one newspaper had the headline “The Gloves Are Off”, suggesting not just boxing, but a bare-knuckle fight.

In the USA, baseball metaphors abound in politics: “a whole new ball game”, “a ball park figure”, “to play ball”, to be “back at first base” and “spin”. These metaphors are increasingly used in British political discourse too, but baseball’s equivalent game, cricket, offers others: “to keep your eye on the ball”; “batting on the sticky wicket”; to be “stumped” or to “play a straight bat” to a question. When a politician is said to “take flak” from an opponent, politics is being compared to warfare, with the politician metaphorically being shot at. On the other hand, it may be the politician who is “on the offensive, targeting” his opponents by “launching an attack” on their policies.

It is interesting to consider some metaphors describing the situation in the Mideast [6]. Despite its official optimism the Clinton administration is increasingly skeptical that peace in the Mideast is possible before the president leaves office in January. So, the talks between Israel and Syria are “in deep freeze”, “the more hopeful Palestinian ‘track’… has run into some obstacles”, “the odds of a Palestinian deal were only 40-60”. The atmosphere of tension and aggression in this region is rendered with the help of a sustained metaphor, the underlying concept of which is “fire”. Thus Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s son Nidal said [7] that “the Palestinian leader is playing with fire by negotiating the issue at all”, “any spark could make things explode”. His idea is further developed by D. Klaidman and M. Hirsh (reporters): “anger will explode”, “E. Amdadi is just the kind of person who could supply the spark”.

The ironical attitude of the reporters to the talks at Camp David is revealed through the following metaphor: “… and why the two leaders were still there early this week, plugging away” and the metaphor of personification: “… and Clinton’s limousine was idling in front of his cabin in a chilly, driving rain.”

As we see, metaphor is deeply embedded in the way we construct the world around us and the way that world is constructed for us by others. Politics refers broadly to people and the lives they lead in organized communities rather than more narrowly to the battleground of conventional party politics.

Literature:

1. Van Dijk, Teun A. Political discourse and ideology. // Paper for Jornadas del Discurso Político, UPF, Barcelona. Second draft, April 29, 2001

2. Znamenskaya, T. A. Stylistics of the English language. Fundamentals of the course. Moscow, 2002, p. 196

3. Beard, Adrian. The language of politics. Routledge, 2000, p. 5,18,21

4. Виноградов В. В. Стиль Пушкина. М., 1945, с. 89

5. Ахатова Б. А. Относительность номинации в политическом дискурсе. // Стилистика и теория языковой коммуникации. М., 2005, с. 64

6. Newsweek. The international news magazine. Vol. CXXXV, No.24. June 12, 2000, p. 3

7. Newsweek. The international news magazine. Vol. CXXXVI, No. 5. July 31, 2000, pp. 12-15