Metaphor and Political Discourse: Analogical Reasoning in Debates about Europe

by A. Musolff

Overview

Far from being rhetorical ornaments, metaphors play a central role in public discourse, as they shape the structure of political categorisation and argumentation. Drawing on a very large bilingual corpus, this book, now in paperback, analyses the distribution of 'metaphor scenarios' in more than a decade of public discourse on European integration, elucidating differences in UK and German attitudes and argumentation. The corpus analysis leads to a refinement of cognitive metaphor theory by systematically relating conceptual, semantic and argumentation levels and incorporating the historical dimension of metaphor evolution. Finally, drawing on examples of metaphor negotiation and on a reassessment of Hobbes' concept of metaphor in Leviathan, the book highlights the ethical dimension of metaphor in politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781403933898
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication date:	08/04/2004
Edition description:	2004
Pages:	211
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Andreas Musolff is Professor of Intercultural Studies at the University of East Anglia, UK, and has published on political rhetoric and its history in Britain and Germany. His books include Metaphor, Nation and the Holocaust, Mirror Images of Europe, and Metaphor and Intercultural Communication.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Metaphor and Politics
2. Conceptual Domains and Scenarios
3. Analogical Argument in Political Discourse
4. Corpora and the Semantics of Metaphor
5. Europe as a Body Politic
6. Discourse History in a Metaphor Corpus
7. Metaphor Negotiation
8. Metaphor as Deception
9. Open and Closed Metaphor Scenarios

Editorial Reviews

'...sheds new light on the discursive behaviour of metaphors and highlights the need for rethinking some of the theoretical claims of cognitive linguistics...The analysis is especially fruitful with respect to discourse history.' - Christina Schäffner, University of Aston, UK

'Andreas Musolff's book provides an overview of the impressive expertise the author has gained in the area of discourse analysis on the topic of Europe over the years. It is recommended for anyone interested in discourse analysis, and a valuable source for classes on comparative discourse analysis. The book should also be of interest to cognitive linguists working on metaphor. The author's corpus-based cognitive analysis constitutes a significant methodological contribution to the study of the dynamics of metaphor. Musolff's broad knowledge of metaphor theories in the fields of both linguistics and philosophy as well as his integration of contemporary thinking about language and cognition - e.g., Sperber's 'epidemiology' of representations - make for a stimulating and though-provoking read.' - Jörg Zinken, University of Portsmouth, UK

'This book combines the strengths of a rigorous linguistic methodology with the intuitive insights of the cognitive linguistic view of metaphor. The result is a fascinating book that provides a new perspective on the study of political discourse.' - Zoltán Kövecses, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary

'Metaphor and Political Discourse is a brilliant achievement for all parties: for the political world to see their work reflected in a magnifying mirror of critical distance; for the Europe Union to see how it stumbles on its journey to its shaky future house; and for scientists to see how conceptual metaphor theory empowers philosophy, psychology, and linguistics, to demonstrate their vital relevance for our understanding of the world at large.' - René Dirven, University of Duisburg, Germany

'In addition to being an undeniable contribution to the social, pragmatic and cognitive theories of metaphor, it is clearly capable of explaining, in a vivid and entertaining manner, a multitude of case-study aspects of public discourse and of the EU discourse in particular.' - Journal of Pragmatics

From the Publisher