Abstract
The paper explores the characteristics and functions of metaphors in Chinese political discourse. The aim is to analyze the dominant metaphorical models with the target domain “China” used in the Chinese authoritative print media. The papers «People’s Daily» and «Guangming Daily» serve as sources of material for analysis. The study uses the continuous sampling method, the manual selection method, the metaphorical modeling method, the cognitive-discursive analysis and the quantitative processing method. The research material includes 231 metaphors, which correspond to 15 metaphorical models. The results show that the most frequent models are war, journey, sports and games, and inanimate nature metaphors. Their frequency is due to the fact that the source domains are well-structured, known and understood by everyone and are included in the universal cognitive base, which increases the effective use of metaphors in political discourse. These metaphors perform the following important functions: they focus attention on the existing problems, influence people’s behavior, motivate them, have an emotional impact on the audience, evoke feelings of unity, solidarity, and responsibility, promote trust in the party and its leader, transform the political worldview and the value system. The results of the study contribute to the further development of the theories of political discourse and metaphorical modeling, and can be used in the courses of political linguistics, semantics, and linguoculturology.
Published Version
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