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Figurativity and Human Ecology
Edited by Alexandra Bagasheva, Bozhil Hristov and Nelly Tincheva
[Figurative Thought and Language 17] 2022
► pp. 85–106

Political speeches

Conceptual metaphor meets text worlds and gestalt psychology’s shifts in profiling

ORCID logo | Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’

This chapter offers a principled theoretical suggestion on the basis of which political speeches could be (re-)defined and the multiple simultaneous functions performed by a political speech could be analyzed. The chapter addresses issues concerning (a) the main types of functions a political speech can perform, (b) the cognitive explanation of the presence of these specific types of functions, and (c) the cognitive explanation of the simultaneous operation of these specific types of functions.

The main line of argumentation supports a view in which at least three cognitive mechanisms need to be taken into account in order for us to be able to explain what a political speech is and how it functions. These cognitive mechanisms include conceptual metaphoric transfer, TW and DW construction and overlaps, and gestalt shifts in profiling.

The theoretical model proposed derives from two questionnaire-based studies reported here. The model is subsequently verified against a dataset of 50 speeches by British and American politicians delivered within the span of the last 80 years.

Keywords: political speeches, political discourse, conceptual metaphor, text world, discourse world, gestalt, profiling shifts
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The starting point: Two studies and a double mapping of the source – path – goal schema
    • 2.1Study 1 and study 2
    • 2.2The double mapping of the source – path – goal schema in political speeches
  • 3.Adding Text Worlds and Discourse Worlds to metaphoric mappings
  • 4.Adding profiling shifts to metaphoric mappings and World overlapping
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 10 November 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.17.04tin
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