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Article published In:
Metaphor and the Social World
Vol. 8:2 (2018) ► pp.157–183

From the light of truth to the dark alleys of tyranny

The evocative power of metaphor in American political speeches

 | University of Verona
The present study aims at exploring the evocative power of metaphor in a number of remarkable American political speeches. The investigation concentrates on the metaphorical framing of political issues in terms of light and darkness. The analysis is carried out on a corpus consisting of the top 100 political speeches in the twentieth century according to a ranking given by American rhetoricians in a national survey (http://​www​. news​.wisc​.edu​/misc​/speeches). Overall, the study shows how the metaphorical uses of the evocative concepts of light and darkness have facilitated the communication of central political ideas, values and beliefs in twentieth century American political rhetoric.
Keywords: American political discourse, political speeches, conceptual metaphors, light and dark metaphors, corpus linguistics
Article outline
  • 1.Metaphor in political discourse
  • 2.Light and dark metaphors
  • 3.Corpus and methodology
  • 4.Quantitative and qualitative analysis
    • 4.1Descriptive and numerical results
    • 4.2Uses and functions of light and dark metaphors in CAPS
      • 4.2.1Metaphors sustaining core cultural values and beliefs
        • achievement, progress, victory
        • individualism, freedom
        • The American Dream (opportunity, prosperity, hope)
        • Counter-values (lack of hope, lack of freedom, poverty)
        • Final comments
      • 4.2.2Metaphors projecting a positive image of the nation
      • 4.2.3Metaphors highlighting the nature of man as a rational being
      • 4.2.4Metaphors projecting evaluations of human states and conditions
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 23 October 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/msw.16025.deg
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