n Felekidou, Despoina (2014) The use of metaphors in Nelson Mandela's autobiography and their relation to his social roles. MRes thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6373/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/
[email protected] The Use of Metaphors in Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography and their Relation to his Social Roles Despoina Felekidou Submitted for the degree of Master of Research English Language, School of Critical Studies College of Arts September 2014 © Despoina Felekidou, 2014 Abstract This dissertation presents a study of figurative language, metaphor in particular, in Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom (2013 [1994]). Nelson Mandela is undoubtedly a symbol of the struggle for justice, dignity and equality all around the world, but he is also famous for the way he handles language. The study focuses on metaphorical linguistic expressions broadly related to the conceptual domains of war/destruction, religion and nature/environment. The first hypothesis is that expressions which are related to the domain of war/destruction are encountered the most during the narration of the first years of his activity (early adulthood and especially when he went underground, created Umkhonto we Sizwe and joined the communist party) and decrease in frequency as he grows older (expressly during his imprisonment and then when he was released and became the president of South Africa).