Chapter 7. Cultural “Signs of life” in politics
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Wei-lun Lu
Abstract
This chapter presents a Cognitive Linguistic analysis of Mandarin eulogistic idioms used for politicians as a sub-genre of political communication. The entire collection of idioms is taken from the online eulogy request system in Taiwan and contains 16 idioms. In the analysis of the idioms, it is shown that in addition to conceptual metaphor and metonymy, Cognitive Grammar is another useful theoretical construct in analysing political eulogies. The analysis, in addition, explicates how various cultural conceptualizations and allusions are involved as a basis for understanding the eulogistic expressions. At the social level, a comparison between the Taiwanese political eulogies and data from Western cultures shows that the social role played by the deceased and the mourner is another important sign of life in Taiwanese culture.
Abstract
This chapter presents a Cognitive Linguistic analysis of Mandarin eulogistic idioms used for politicians as a sub-genre of political communication. The entire collection of idioms is taken from the online eulogy request system in Taiwan and contains 16 idioms. In the analysis of the idioms, it is shown that in addition to conceptual metaphor and metonymy, Cognitive Grammar is another useful theoretical construct in analysing political eulogies. The analysis, in addition, explicates how various cultural conceptualizations and allusions are involved as a basis for understanding the eulogistic expressions. At the social level, a comparison between the Taiwanese political eulogies and data from Western cultures shows that the social role played by the deceased and the mourner is another important sign of life in Taiwanese culture.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Language, culture and identity 1
- Chapter 1. Philosophy and philosophical practice 7
- Chapter 2. Translation and transnationality in the Himalaya 23
- Chapter 3. North-South relations in linguistic science 43
- Chapter 4. My journey as an indigenous Xinguan teacher and researcher 63
- Chapter 5. The representation-cohesion-stance hypothesis 75
- Chapter 6. A framing-based account of critical cultural awareness 111
- Chapter 7. Cultural “Signs of life” in politics 141
- Chapter 8. Construing the self in discourse 157
- Chapter 9. Embodiment, personification, identity 181
- Chapter 10. Mid hefigum byrþenum 203
- Chapter 11. Cultural and cognitive aspects of narrative 227
- Chapter 12. How can I persuade you without making self-assertions? 249
- Chapter 13. “Keeping up with the times” 275
- Chapter 14. A study of Chinese non-basic color terms from the perspective of cognitive semantics 295
- Index 317
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction. Language, culture and identity 1
- Chapter 1. Philosophy and philosophical practice 7
- Chapter 2. Translation and transnationality in the Himalaya 23
- Chapter 3. North-South relations in linguistic science 43
- Chapter 4. My journey as an indigenous Xinguan teacher and researcher 63
- Chapter 5. The representation-cohesion-stance hypothesis 75
- Chapter 6. A framing-based account of critical cultural awareness 111
- Chapter 7. Cultural “Signs of life” in politics 141
- Chapter 8. Construing the self in discourse 157
- Chapter 9. Embodiment, personification, identity 181
- Chapter 10. Mid hefigum byrþenum 203
- Chapter 11. Cultural and cognitive aspects of narrative 227
- Chapter 12. How can I persuade you without making self-assertions? 249
- Chapter 13. “Keeping up with the times” 275
- Chapter 14. A study of Chinese non-basic color terms from the perspective of cognitive semantics 295
- Index 317
