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Metaphorical Creativity in British Political Discourse on Brexit

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Metaphorical Creativity in British Political Discourse on Brexit JOSIP JURAJ STROSSMAYER UNIVERSITY OF OSIJEK FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Lejla Aljukić METAPHORICAL CREATIVITY IN BRITISH POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON BREXIT Doctoral thesis Osijek, 2020 JOSIP JURAJ STROSSMAYER UNIVERSITY OF OSIJEK FACULTY OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Lejla Aljukić METAPHORICAL CREATIVITY IN BRITISH POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON BREXIT Doctoral thesis Supervisor: Sanja Berberović, Ph.D., Associate Professor Osijek, 2020 SVEUČILIŠTE JOSIPA JURJA STROSSMAYERA U OSIJEKU FILOZOFSKI FAKULTET Lejla Aljukić METAFORIČKA KREATIVNOST U BRITANSKOM POLITIČKOM DISKURSU OF BREXITU Doktorska disertacija Mentorica: dr.sc. Sanja Berberović,izv.prof. Osijek, 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations, symbols and font styles ......................................................................... 1 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 2 1.1. The aims of dissertation .............................................................................................. 4 2. Theoretical background ............................................................................................. 6 2.1. Historical overview of figurative language studies .................................................... 6 2.2. Cognitive theory of metaphor and metonymy ............................................................ 8 2.2.1. Conceptual metaphor ............................................................................................... 9 2.2.1.1. Conceptual domains ........................................................................................... 10 2.2.1.2. Mappings ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2.1.3. Kinds of metaphor .............................................................................................. 16 2.2.1.4. The basis of metaphor ........................................................................................ 21 2.2.1.5. Metaphor systems ............................................................................................... 22 2.2.2. Conceptual metonymy ........................................................................................... 23 2.2.2.1. Types of metonymies ......................................................................................... 28 2.2.2.2. Motivation of vehicle and target ......................................................................... 30 2.2.3. Differences between metaphor and metonymy ..................................................... 31 2.2.4. Interaction of metaphor and metonymy................................................................. 32 2.3. Metaphor variation ................................................................................................... 34 2.4. Metaphorical creativity ............................................................................................. 37 2.4.1. Creativity based on conceptual domains ............................................................... 40 2.4.2. Context-induced creativity .................................................................................... 41 2.4.2.1. The role of the contextual factors in metaphorical creativity ............................. 44 2.4.2.1.1. Global contexts ................................................................................................ 44 2.4.2.1.2. Local contexts .................................................................................................. 46 2.4.2.1.3. Other types of contexts .................................................................................... 48 i 2.4.2.2. Operationalising metaphorical conceptualisation in context .............................. 49 2.5. Political discourse ..................................................................................................... 51 2.5.1. Metaphor and discourse ......................................................................................... 55 2.5.1.1. Metaphor in political discourse .......................................................................... 57 2.5.1.1.1. Metaphor scenarios .......................................................................................... 60 2.5.1.2. Rhetorical functions of metaphor ....................................................................... 61 2.5.1.3. Metaphorical creativity in political discourse .................................................... 67 3. Corpus and methodology .......................................................................................... 78 4. Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 81 4.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 81 4.2. Political context: Brexit ............................................................................................ 82 4.3. JOURNEY metaphors in British political discourse on Brexit .................................... 84 4.3.1. WALKING JOURNEY metaphors ............................................................................... 87 4.3.2. VEHICLE JOURNEY metaphors ................................................................................. 95 4.3.2.1. CAR JOURNEY metaphor ....................................................................................... 96 4.3.2.2. BUS JOURNEY metaphor ..................................................................................... 108 4.3.2.3. TRAIN JOURNEY metaphor ................................................................................. 118 4.3.2.4. SHIP JOURNEY metaphor .................................................................................... 132 4.3.2.5. PLANE JOURNEY metaphor ................................................................................. 145 4.3.3. Concluding remarks on JOURNEY metaphors in British political discourse on Brexit ............................................................................................................................. 151 4.4. MARRIAGE/DIVORCE metaphors in British political discourse on Brexit ................ 154 4.4.1. MARRIAGE metaphor ............................................................................................ 157 4.4.2. DIVORCE metaphor ............................................................................................... 169 4.4.3. Concluding remarks on MARRIAGE/DIVORCE metaphors in British political discourse on Brexit ........................................................................................................ 202 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 205 ii References..................................................................................................................... 208 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 220 Sažetak .......................................................................................................................... 221 Biography/Životopis .................................................................................................... 222 iii Abbreviations, Symbols and Font Styles CMT Conceptual Metaphor Theory CTMM Cognitive Theory of Metaphor and Metonymy PDA Political Discourse Analysis CDA Critical Discourse Analysis DHA Discourse Historical Approach DMT Deliberate Metaphor Theory ICM Idealised Cognitive Model CMA Critical Metaphor Analysis EU European Union EEC European Economic Community [...] signals an omitted part of a quotation or an example SMALL CAPS conceptual metaphors, metonymies and metaphor scenarios italic highlights a creative metaphorical expression 1 1. INTRODUCTION The awareness of the existence of intricate and inseparable bonds between politics and language, acknowledged even in Aristotle’s and Cicero’s accounts on rhetoric, has motivated the rise of interest in the study of political discourse. This has resulted in the evolvement of several current linguistic approaches to the issue of political discourse: Critical Linguistics, Political Discourse Analysis (PDA), Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), the approach developed by Paul Chilton, which combines Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) and CDA, etc. A very important segment of the linguistic study of political discourse is metaphor, though the attitude towards it has undergone substantial changes, from being considered as a mere rhetorical device to the more recent acknowledgement of its cognitive nature. This special attention given to metaphor can be understood to have arisen from the fact that metaphor, as claimed by Semino (2008: 1), is a “pervasive linguistic phenomenon”, occurring in different types of discourse, aimed at representing reality and achieving particular rhetorical goals (Semino 2008: 31), which is also seen as a motivation for the evolvement of different discourse approaches to the study of metaphor. Unlike the traditional Conceptual Metaphor Theory (henceforth CMT), which recognised the power of metaphor in impacting and shaping reality but was criticised for being focused on studying metaphor outside the context, these recent discourse approaches are concerned with examining metaphor from various perspectives, placing it at the heart of the discourse from
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