THE ROLE OF METAPHORS IN ELECTORAL DISCOURSES. A WAY OF PERSUASION OR MANIPULATION?[1]
Andreea Raluca Lațiu
1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania
Abstract
Metaphor plays a central role in electoral communication by shaping how citizens interpret political actors, national identity, and campaign issues. This study examines how metaphors function as persuasive or potentially manipulative strategies in United States electoral discourse. The corpus consists of four campaign speeches delivered by Michelle Obama, Donald Trump, and Barack Obama between 2008 and 2020, totalling approximately 13,200 words. Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory and rhetorical analysis, the study identifies dominant conceptual metaphors across the speeches and assesses their cognitive and ideological effects. The results show that metaphors such as Nation Is A Family, President Is A Leader, and Elections Are A Journey/Battle primarily frame politics in terms of shared values and collective responsibility, supporting persuasive intent. In contrast, metaphors including Politics Is War and Election Is A Stolen Object emphasise conflict, threat, and distrust, thus contributing to manipulative framing. These findings highlight the dual role of metaphor in democratic discourse and underscore the importance of critical awareness when evaluating political language.
Keywords: Conceptual metaphor; Political communication; Electoral discourse; Persuasion; Manipulation.
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Corpus:
Obama, B. H. (2008, August 28). Nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention [Speech transcript]. The Presidency Project — Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/august-28-2008-acceptance-speech-democratic-national
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Trump, D. J. (2016, August 19). Donald Trump’s best speech of the 2016 campaign (annotated) [Speech transcript]. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/19/donald-trumps-best-speech-of-the-2016-campaign-annotated/
Trump, D. J. (2020, November 5). Remarks on the 2020 presidential election [Speech transcript]. The Presidency Project — Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/november-5-2020-remarks-2020-
How to cite this paper: Lațiu, A. R. (2023). The role of metaphors in electoral discourses: A way of persuasion or manipulation? Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 16(2), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2023.16.2.5
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[1] The current paper was elaborated as part of the MA course in Metaphorology in contemporary media, led by Professor Teodora Popescu, academic year 2022-2023, 1 Decembrie 1918 University of Alba Iulia, Romania.