John Benjamins Publishing Company
Payback and punishment
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of metaphors for punishment in policy discourse in Scotland, which has embarked on an ambitious programme of penal reform. We analysed a corpus consisting of the four key policy documents of the penal reform programme. Our objectives were firstly, to identify the most frequently used lexical metaphors and metonyms in the corpus, and then to analyse the entailments that these metaphors have, and how they frame the topics of the texts. We found widespread use of metaphors from the domain of management, providing support for the thesis that the discourse of management frames public services in the UK. We then specifically investigated the use of payback because of its salience in current penal philosophy, with the objective of finding out how frequently it is used, and whether the theme of reparation frames the texts more widely. Our findings suggest that as a metaphor from the source domain of reparation, it appears to be a ‘one-shot’ metaphor. However, in terms of semantic groupings, it could perhaps be viewed as a metaphor of business and management.
Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of metaphors for punishment in policy discourse in Scotland, which has embarked on an ambitious programme of penal reform. We analysed a corpus consisting of the four key policy documents of the penal reform programme. Our objectives were firstly, to identify the most frequently used lexical metaphors and metonyms in the corpus, and then to analyse the entailments that these metaphors have, and how they frame the topics of the texts. We found widespread use of metaphors from the domain of management, providing support for the thesis that the discourse of management frames public services in the UK. We then specifically investigated the use of payback because of its salience in current penal philosophy, with the objective of finding out how frequently it is used, and whether the theme of reparation frames the texts more widely. Our findings suggest that as a metaphor from the source domain of reparation, it appears to be a ‘one-shot’ metaphor. However, in terms of semantic groupings, it could perhaps be viewed as a metaphor of business and management.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface xi
-
Introduction
- Metaphor in specialist discourse 3
-
Metaphor Variation in Specialist Discourse
- Register variation and metaphor use 17
- Metaphors in psychology genres 53
-
Metaphor in Specific Contexts
- Payback and punishment 79
- They have to die for the goals 101
- The production line as a context for low metaphoricity 131
-
Metaphor in Science Writing
- High on metaphor, low on simile? An examination of metaphor type in sub-registers of academic prose 163
- A mere metaphor? Framings of the concept of metaphor in biological specialist communication 191
- Dynamical systems metaphors 215
-
Metaphor and Popularization
- Metaphor, news discourse and knowledge 245
- Metaphor as tools of enrolment in the policy process 271
-
Conclusion
- Metaphor in specialist discourse 299
- Index 315
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- Preface xi
-
Introduction
- Metaphor in specialist discourse 3
-
Metaphor Variation in Specialist Discourse
- Register variation and metaphor use 17
- Metaphors in psychology genres 53
-
Metaphor in Specific Contexts
- Payback and punishment 79
- They have to die for the goals 101
- The production line as a context for low metaphoricity 131
-
Metaphor in Science Writing
- High on metaphor, low on simile? An examination of metaphor type in sub-registers of academic prose 163
- A mere metaphor? Framings of the concept of metaphor in biological specialist communication 191
- Dynamical systems metaphors 215
-
Metaphor and Popularization
- Metaphor, news discourse and knowledge 245
- Metaphor as tools of enrolment in the policy process 271
-
Conclusion
- Metaphor in specialist discourse 299
- Index 315
