Abstract

This thesis puts conceptual metaphor theory into the analysis of political speeches. George Lakoff & Mark Johnson thought that “Metaphor is everywhere in everyday life, not only in language, but also in our thought and action.” With the development of metaphor, metaphor has played an important role in political discourses. In western countries, political discourses are regarded as an important style of political participation to help politicians express their political opinions and get more support. At the end of 2016, Donald Trump won the final victory in American presidential election debates and becomes the 45th president, whose political speeches have played an important role that contribute to his victory. This thesis makes a metaphorical analysis of Trump’s speeches to explore the functions of political metaphor and the political cultures conveyed from the discourses.

Based on the conceptual metaphor theory, this thesis conducts an analysis between Donald Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s debates in American presidential election of 2016 to reveal the metaphorical significance in political speeches by doing literature research and corpus analysis with specific examples. Through the analysis, this paper concludes six main conceptual metaphors used by the two candidates in the debates：Construction Metaphors, Journey Metaphors, Organism Metaphors, Family Metaphors, War Metaphors and Religion Metaphors. Besides, the study points out the importance of metaphors and the underlying intention in politics.

This thesis enriches the metaphorical research in political discourses. It can not only help people extend the understanding of political discourses, but also improve their communicative strategies.

Key words: American presidential election; political speeches; metaphor

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1.Introduction1

1.1 Research background1

1.2 Purposes of the study.2

1.3 Significance of the study2

1.4 The organization of the thesis.3

2. Literature Review .3

2.1 Studies abroad 3

2.2 Studies at home4

3. Theoretical Framework5

3.1 The definition of metaphor5

3.2 The functions of metaphor.6

4. Data Analysis of Political Discourses in 2016.8

4.1 “Construction” metaphors8

4.2 “Journey” metaphors9

4.3“Organism”metaphors9

4.4 “Family” metaphors10

4.5“War” metaphors11

4.6“Religion”metaphors11

5.Conclusion12

5.1 Major findings of the study12

5.2 The discussion of the findings13

5.3 The limitation of the study13

References.15