A Dialogistic Study On Conceptual Metaphors

A lot of attention is paid to state leaders' speeches because state leaders are the very representatives of their nations. Studies on state leaders' speeches from the perspective of linguistics have sprung up in recent years, among which the study exploring conceptual metaphors employed by state leaders in their speeches win great popularity. However, with most studies focusing on the types, quantities and cognitive mechanism of conceptual metaphors, there are few studies exploring how state leaders' philosophical ideas in governing are mirrored and expressed by employing conceptual metaphors.Different types, quantities and percentages of conceptual metaphors in six speeches given by President Xi to college students during the years of 2013 and 2014 are explored by a mixed methodology of both quantitative and qualitative. By integrating Bakhtin's dialogism and Lakoff & Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory, this thesis establishes a Dialogically Metaphorical Thinking(DMT) model, trying to explore how a state leader employs conceptual metaphors to construct a channel for better exchanges with his audience. It is found that the topics of the six speeches mainly are international relationship, national development and education which reflect President Xi's individual ideology and are difficult to follow because of their political nature. In order to help his ideology to reach the students in an easier way, President Xi employs several conceptual metaphors, the source domains of which are things college students are familiar with, like journey, construction, container, water and human, etc.. By structurally mapping concrete things from source domain onto abstract things from target domain, conceptual metaphors help students better understand President Xi's political ideas. Conceptual metaphor, the unique cognitive tool, can shorten the mental distance and create a harmonious atmosphere between the leader and his audience, thus encouraging his audience to agree with him on values about international relationship, national development and education, etc..This thesis consists of five chapters. To begin with, the background, rationale and objectives of the current research are introduced in chapter one. In addition, a review of the related studies on state leaders' speeches in recent years is carried out in chapter two, which also points out the gap of the previous studies. Based on the gap detected, chapter three proposes a DMT model and gives a detailed explanation on how this model can fill the gap. Then, a comprehensive analysis of President Xi's six speeches to college students is made in chapter four so as to prove the feasibilityof the new model, namely, to demonstrate how conceptual metaphors help to enhance communication between President Xi and college students. Finally, major findings and limitations of the current thesis are presented and suggestions on further relevant studies are proposed in chapter five. By integrating dialogism with conceptual metaphor theory, this thesis proposes a DMT model in the hope of contributing to interdisciplinary studies by relating Cognitive Linguistics with philosophy. Meanwhile, it is hoped that this thesis can provide a new perspective for the research in state leaders' speeches by investigating President Xi's governing philosophy from the perspective of dialogism.