MA Linguistics (TESOL) University of Surrey 2003
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MA Linguistics (TESOL) University of Surrey 2003 The use of conceptual metaphor analysis to reveal and compare political ideologies and cultural values: a study of news media editorials from the UK, US and Japan Richard Walker Abstract Adopting a broadly cognitive linguistic approach, this research set out to use conceptual metaphor analysis in order to compare editorials and opinion articles from news media organizations in the UK, Japan and the US. The study set out with two-fold aims: firstly, to reveal the underlying political ideologies of the writers and explore whether evidence can be found to support the hypothesis by Lakoff (2002) that two fundamental systems of morality based on the ideal family underlie conservative and liberal worldviews; and secondly, to compare the western and Japanese corpora in order to explore the extent to which the use of conceptual metaphor analysis may reveal Japanese cultural values. The study found some support for the existence of these models in all corpora, and several metaphors were identified in the Japanese corpora suggestive of particularly Japanese values. It was found that complementing conceptual metaphor analysis with aspects of critical discourse analysis formed a powerful tool for this research. ii ©Richard Walker 2003 iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to my dissertation supervisor, Jonathan Charteris- Black, for his help during the writing of this dissertation. I would also like to thank my parents for their ever-present support, encouragement and much more. iv Table of Contents Title Page i Abstract ii © Statement iii Acknowledgements iv Figures and Tables vii Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Rationale and Aims 2 1.3 Dissertation Outline 3 1.4 Definitions 3 1.4.1 Metaphor 3 1.4.2 Metonymy 4 1.4.3 Ideology 4 Chapter Two: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 6 2.2 Approaches to Metaphor 6 2.3 Uses of Metaphor 8 2.4 Conceptual Metaphor Theory 9 2.5 Conventional Metaphors 11 2.6 Conceptual Metaphor Analysis 12 2.7 Conceptual Metaphors for Morality 12 2.7.1 Strict Father and Nurturant Parent Morality 15 2.7.1.1 Strict Father Model 15 2.7.1.2 Nurturant Parent Model 17 2.8 Japanese Values 19 2.9 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 20 Chapter Three: The Study 3.1 Procedure 22 3.2 Data Analysis 23 3.3 Operationalizing the Definition of Metaphor 23 3.4 Distinguishing Between Metaphor and Metonymy 24 Chapter Four: Findings and Discussion 4.1 Introduction 25 4.2 Quantitative Analysis 26 4.2.1 Metaphor and Metonymy 26 4.2.2 Metaphors for Morality 30 4.3 Qualitative Analysis 31 4.3.1 Metaphors for Morality 31 4.3.1.1 US Corpora 32 4.3.1.1.1 Fox News 32 4.3.1.1.2 LA Times 33 4.3.1.2 Japan Corpora 35 4.3.1.2.1 Yomiuri Shimbun 35 4.3.1.2.2 Asahi Shimbun 35 4.3.1.3 UK Corpora 37 v 4.3.1.3.1 Daily Telegraph 37 4.3.1.3.2 Guardian 39 4.3.2 Metaphors Reflecting Japanese Values 41 4.3.2.1 Yomiuri Shimbun 41 4.3.2.2 Asahi Shimbun 41 4.4 Synthesis 44 Chapter Five: Conclusions 5.1 Summary 45 5.2 Pedagogical Implications 46 5.3 Reflections 47 5.3.1 Limitations of the Study 47 5.3.2 Suggestions for Further Research 48 Appendices Appendix 1: Fox News Corpus Data 49 Appendix 2: LA Times Corpus Data 51 Appendix 3: Yomiuri Shimbun Corpus Data 53 Appendix 4: Asahi Shimbun Corpus Data 55 Appendix 5: Daily Telegraph Corpus Data 58 Appendix 6: Guardian Corpus Data 63 Appendix 7: Fox News Corpus Sample Article 68 Appendix 8: LA Times Corpus Sample Article 70 Appendix 9: Yomiuri Shimbun Corpus Sample Article 71 Appendix 10: Asahi Shimbun Corpus Sample Article 73 Appendix 11: Daily Telegraph Corpus Sample Article 75 Appendix 12: Guardian Corpus Sample Article 77 Bibliography 79 Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1: Mapping of the Moral Accounting Metaphor 13 Figure 2: The Moral Order 16 Figure 3: Occurrence of linguistic metaphors and metonymy in the six corpora 27 Figure 4: Occurrence of metonymy type institution for people responsible 27 Figure 5: Occurrence of CMs and LMs in main corpora 28 Figure 6: Percentage breakdown of conceptual metaphor types for main corpora 29 Figure 7: Occurrence of metaphors pertaining to morality (% of total LMs) 31 Tables Table 1: The corpora comprising the study 22 Table 2: Metaphor and metonymy in the corpora 26 vi Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction This study is grounded in mainstream cognitive theory as developed by Lakoff and Johnson (1980). Cognitive science is a discipline dealing with "the scientific study of thinking, reasoning and the intellectual processes of the mind" (Richards et. al. 1992: 60). It is concerned with the way in which knowledge is represented in the mind, how language and images are understood, and the elucidation of the mental processes underlying planning, learning and problem-solving (Richards, ibid.). Within this broad discipline, the field of cognitive linguistics describes an approach to language grounded in our experience, perception and conceptualization of the world (Ungerer and Schmid, 1996). Cognitive linguists thus aim to characterize language in relation to cognitive processes, and claim that human conceptualization is largely metaphorical in nature, and furthermore, that this is reflected in everyday language. Today, metaphor is acknowledged as playing a central role in our understanding of how language, thought and discourse are structured. Since Lakoff and Johnson’s seminal work Metaphors We Live By in 1980, the role of metaphor in language has been the focus of much research in linguistics, and conceptual metaphor analysis (CMA) has been shown to be a powerful tool in the analysis of public discourse, especially political1. The examination of the conceptual metaphors used in political discourse can facilitate the discovery of underlying assumptions which are often not made explicit and this can help to elucidate the ideology of the writer. Such knowledge can then allow us to critically examine these assumptions and suggest other ways of viewing the situation, which may itself involve the use of other conceptual metaphors. Thus conceptual metaphor analysis can provide important insights into underlying ideologies and so raise critical awareness of and facilitate the analysis of such texts. It may also generate insights into the belief and value systems in differing cultures. There are, therefore, clear benefits for L2 learners, especially students of political science. However, CMA is but one tool, albeit powerful, for the analysis of public discourse. It is also vitally important to pay close attention to the actual linguistic realizations of metaphors in the texts, other salient textual features and the overall context. Although 1 Many papers have been written on metaphor and political discourse in the media. See for example, 1 the primary focus of this study is CMA, an awareness of the importance of the context and surface-level linguistic features is present throughout, and complements the CMA. 1.2 Rationale and Aims The study has two-fold aims: to use CMA to provide linguistic evidence for opposing political ideologies within cultures and to compare such ideologies and attitudes across cultures. In Moral Politics (Lakoff, 2002), Lakoff postulates that the values and beliefs held by conservatives and liberals in the US are consistent with and can be explained by two basic metaphorical systems, both using the conceptual metaphor NATION AS FAMILY, but with opposite versions of what constitutes an ideal family. For conservatives he posits a model called a Strict Father family and for liberals a so-called Nurturant Parent family. He presents a cogent argument for the centrality of these contrasting systems in US politics, however the discussion is limited to the US. The aims of this study are therefore several: 1. To analyse texts from US sources to determine if confirmatory support for Lakoff’s hypothesis can be provided. 2. To analyse texts from UK and non-western sources (Japan) to determine if any evidence supporting the hypothesis can be found pertaining to the UK and non- western cultures (Japan). 3. To analyse texts from Japan sources to determine if CMA can provide an insight into Japanese values and belief systems. 1.3 Dissertation Outline Chapter One concludes with definitions of key concepts. Chapter Two provides the theoretical background to metaphor, conceptual metaphor theory, and CMA relevant to the study. The metaphorical systems underlying Strict Father and Nurturant Parent models are presented, Japanese values germane to this study are discussed, and aspects of critical discourse analysis (CDA) relevant to the study are explored. In Chapter Three, research methods and procedure are described, and in Chapter Four results are presented, discussed and summarized. Finally, in Chapter Five, conclusions, pedagogical implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study are Chilton and Ilyin, 1993; Jansen and Sabo, 1994; Lakoff, 1991, 2003. 2 presented. 1.4 Definitions 1.4.1 Metaphor The history of metaphor goes back to the time of Aristotle, and his writings on metaphor show an essentially cognitive viewpoint. Aristotle sees metaphor as the substitution of one idea for another in discourse in order to create new understanding (Cameron, 1999). For cognitive linguists today, “the essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 5). Charteris-Black and Musolff (2003) provide both a broad, semantic definition and a narrow, more pragmatically oriented definition. The semantic definition states that metaphor is a figure of speech in which at some point in the evolution of the meaning of a word or phrase there is a shift in its use from one domain to another so that it refers to something else (Charteris-Black and Musolff, 2003: 157).