A Study Of Conceptual Metaphors In American Presidential Inaugural Addresses

Traditionally, metaphor is a figure of speech in English that is widely and frequently employed. It has been studied for more than two thousand years, and has been an important research topic since the ancient times. Metaphor has been studied from various aspects in diverse discourses. In modern times, according to Lakoff, metaphor, which is rather than merely a device of poetic imagination and rhetorical decoration superfluous to language, is conceptual and pervasive in everyday life and experience. In other words, people think that metaphor is not just in language, but in the way we conceptualize one mental domain in terms of another. Most of our knowledge and experience about the world and even ourselves are understood by way of metaphor, without which we can not live and perceive the world.According to Lakoff's conceptual metaphor theory, metaphor concerns understanding one domain of experience in terms of a very different domain of experience. Metaphor can be comprehended as a mapping from a source domain to a target domain.Because the use of metaphor is universal, it is natural to be adopted in American presidential inaugural speech, which is a typical discourse used by the newly-elected president on his inaugural day. Metaphors in American presidential inaugural speech play an essential role in publicizing new policies and principles of the new president and are regarded as powerful weapons to cohere and simplify the speeches, present current issues, appeal, persuade, and motivate the general populace.The present thesis, according to conceptual metaphor theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson, is an attempt to make a study of metaphors in American presidential inaugural speech. In this thesis, a lot of examples are given to illustrate the existence of the main seven conceptual metaphors in American presidential inaugural speech. Based on the analysis of the 8 speeches by 5 American presidents, metaphors in these speeches are interpreted clearly and the functions of these metaphors are studied. The conceptual metaphors in American presidential inaugural speech take POLTICS IS A JOURNEY as a center and every aspect of the Journey Metaphor is also a conceptual metaphor. These conceptual metaphors form a network centering on the Journey Metaphor. In this way, this analysis of the speeches reveals how the metaphors can be interpreted and what information they deliver to the audience in American presidential inaugural speeches. This thesis also argues that the conceptual metaphors, especially the Journey Metaphor, employed in American presidential inaugural speeches are highly intentional, but not always so easy to perceive. The five presidents all frequently employ the Journey Metaphor to make Americans identify and comprehend their beliefs, policies, and aims for America. The main findings of this thesis are the following. Firstly, the seven conceptual metaphors employed in the speeches work in a systematic way. The seven conceptual metaphors are the following.(â… ) POLITICS IS A JOURNEY.(â…¡)AMERICA AS THE LEADER OF THE WORLD IS THE GUIDE ON A JOURNEY.(â…¢) NATIONS IN POLITICS ARE TRAVELERS ON A JOURNEY.(â…£) DIFFICULTIES AND PROBLEMS IN POLITICS ARE IMPEDIMENTS ON A JOURNEY.(â…¤) THE SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN POLITICS ARE THE WEATHER ON A JOURNEY.(â…¥) THE HOPE IN POLITICS IS THE LIGHT/FIRE ON A JOURNEY.(â…¦) THE AMERICAN GOAL IS THE DESTINATION ON A JOURNEY.Secondly, the Journey Metaphor establishes a heuristic frame for the discourse sequence.Thirdly, the Journey Metaphor links each speech as a thread through the coherent device.Fourthly, the seven conceptual metaphors have the functions of simplification, motivation, persuasion, coherence and presentation of current issues. The five functions are employed to frame and influence the audience's values and emotions. The functions of metaphor also make the speeches more accessible and effective in persuading people and gaining their support. At the same time, the use of metaphor makes the speeches more vivid, comprehensible and inspiring.In a word, the use of metaphors in presidential inaugural speeches is vivid and a useful tool for American newly-elected presidents.The findings of the research not just offer supporting evidence for the conceptual metaphor theory, but also help people get a better understanding of American policies and principles in history, society, politics, economy, culture, diplomacy and so on.