Decoding political discourse : Conceptual metaphors and argumentation / Maria-Ionela Neagu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neagu, Maria-Ionela.

Contributor:

Palgrave Connect (Online service)

Series:

Palgrave pivot

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online text (144 pages :)

Place of Publication:

Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Biography/History:

Maria-Ionela Neagu is Senior Lecturer in the Philology Department at Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania. Her previous publications include Language Education Policies in Romania (2008, Romanian edition) and English Syntax. Basic Concepts: the Syntax of the Simple Sentence (2009).

Summary:

This book provides an in-depth look into the cognitive and argumentative nature of political discourse with a focus on the role and place of conceptual metaphors in practical argumentation. Neagu's empirical investigation centres on the corpus of the American Presidential debates in 2008 and speeches by Barack Obama from 2009-2011. This book considers how we reveal ourselves in the language we employ and the action in which we engage. Maria-Ionela Neagu argues that our conceptualization of the world via metaphor should no longer be taken for granted. On the contrary, it must be critically challenged and evaluated, steering argument towards a particular line of action. This book places political discourse at the crossroads of cognitive linguistics and transpersonal psychology to highlight the role of conceptual metaphors in and as arguments. Exploring the interface between argumentation theories and cognitive semantics, Neagu integrates the analysis of conceptual metaphors into the framework of practical reasoning, arguing that political discourse bridges the mental void engendered by people's needs and frustrations. This empirical investigation is centred on the corpus of the American Presidential debates in 2008, as well as Barack Obama's 'State of the Nation' (2009), and 'State of the Union Address' (2010, 2011).

"This is a valuable addition to the existing literature on cognitive and argumentative approaches to political discourse." - Isabela Fairclough, University of Central Lancashire, UK.

Contents:

List of Tables and Figures Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Political Discourse Analysis 3. Cognitive Linguistic Theory of Metaphor: an Overview 4. The Cognitive and Argumentative Nature of Political Discourse 5. Conceptual Metaphors as Defeasible Arguments 6. Decoding Conceptual Metaphors 7. Conceptualizing the Financial Crisis 8. Politics is Conflict, Politics is Vision 9. The Stars and the Dogs of the Company Called America 10. Politics is Ethics 11. Symbolic Power and Argumentation 12. Sound Moves or Political Leverage? 13. Politeness, Argumentative Schemes, and Ethos Construction 14. Argumentation on War 15. Concluding Thoughts 16. Horizons of Truth and the Moral Victory 17. Contributions of This Study Appendix 1 Corpus Bibliography Index of Conceptual Metaphors General Index.

Notes:

Part of the Palgrave Pivot collection, available through Palgrave Connect.

ISBN:

9781137309907

1137309903

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.