Presented to you through Paradigm Publishing Services

John Benjamins Publishing Company

Visit our Partner Page See all our books
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The persuasive (and manipulative) power of metaphor in ‘austerity’ discourse

A corpus-based analysis of embodied and moral metaphors of austerity in the Portuguese press

Abstract

This chapter analyses the persuasive power of metaphors used in the Portuguese press to justify the implementation of harsh austerity policies. The analysis relies on a corpus of news and opinion articles published in June-July 2011, after the entry of the Troika, and May 2013, when protests against the austerity policies intensified. The study adopts a socio-cognitive view of language following the promising convergence between Cognitive Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis, and the corpus-based and critical discourse-based approach to conceptual metaphor. Using the target-domain method for corpus-based metaphor identification, 1,151 austerity-related metaphorical expressions associated with eight target lexemes were gathered, which include great chain of being, image schemas, and event/action metaphors. The analysis reveals the persuasive and manipulative force of certain specific metaphors, such as obesity/diet, indebted family, good student, and sacrifice. These socially-embodied metaphors are grounding in moral cultural models and serve ideological, emotional and moral purposes.

Abstract

This chapter analyses the persuasive power of metaphors used in the Portuguese press to justify the implementation of harsh austerity policies. The analysis relies on a corpus of news and opinion articles published in June-July 2011, after the entry of the Troika, and May 2013, when protests against the austerity policies intensified. The study adopts a socio-cognitive view of language following the promising convergence between Cognitive Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis, and the corpus-based and critical discourse-based approach to conceptual metaphor. Using the target-domain method for corpus-based metaphor identification, 1,151 austerity-related metaphorical expressions associated with eight target lexemes were gathered, which include great chain of being, image schemas, and event/action metaphors. The analysis reveals the persuasive and manipulative force of certain specific metaphors, such as obesity/diet, indebted family, good student, and sacrifice. These socially-embodied metaphors are grounding in moral cultural models and serve ideological, emotional and moral purposes.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. Discourse, cognition and society 1
  5. Part I. Socio-cognitive approach to discourse
  6. From butchers and surgeons to the linguistic method 21
  7. Individual differences and in situ identity marking 39
  8. The persuasive (and manipulative) power of metaphor in ‘austerity’ discourse 79
  9. Part II. Discourse strategies in multimodal communication
  10. The construction of meaning in multimodal discourse 111
  11. Multimodal metaphor, narrativity and creativity in TV cosmetics ads 137
  12. Multimodal discourses of collective memory 159
  13. Part III. Cross-linguistic (English – Spanish) perspectives
  14. Exploring specific differences 187
  15. The use of metaphor and evaluation as discourse strategies in pre-electoral debates 215
  16. A text-world account of temporal world-building strategies in Spanish and English 245
  17. Gesture structuring strategies in English and Spanish autobiographical narratives 273
  18. Index 297
Exploring Discourse Strategies in Social and Cognitive Interaction
This chapter is in the book Exploring Discourse Strategies in Social and Cognitive Interaction
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.262.04soa

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction
  4. Discourse, cognition and society 1
  5. Part I. Socio-cognitive approach to discourse
  6. From butchers and surgeons to the linguistic method 21
  7. Individual differences and in situ identity marking 39
  8. The persuasive (and manipulative) power of metaphor in ‘austerity’ discourse 79
  9. Part II. Discourse strategies in multimodal communication
  10. The construction of meaning in multimodal discourse 111
  11. Multimodal metaphor, narrativity and creativity in TV cosmetics ads 137
  12. Multimodal discourses of collective memory 159
  13. Part III. Cross-linguistic (English – Spanish) perspectives
  14. Exploring specific differences 187
  15. The use of metaphor and evaluation as discourse strategies in pre-electoral debates 215
  16. A text-world account of temporal world-building strategies in Spanish and English 245
  17. Gesture structuring strategies in English and Spanish autobiographical narratives 273
  18. Index 297
Downloaded on 5.4.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1075/pbns.262.04soa/html
Scroll to top button