Metaphor and Political Discourse: Analogical Reasoning in Debates about Europe

Musolff, A.

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.

Details

Published by: Palgrave Macmillan

Publication Date: 2004-01-01

Format: Paperback

ISBN-13: 9781349516919

DOI: 10.1057/9780230504516

Dimensions: 216.0cm x140.0cm

Pages: 211.0