Travellers, patients and warriors in English, Dutch and French economic discourse

Abstract

Metaphor is a basic cognitive ability which allows us to conceive of abstract domains of experience. « Abstract reasoning » is essentially a matter of mapping the structure of a (concrete) source domain onto an abstract target domain. This metaphorical mapping is by definition partial : a given metaphor highlights some aspects of an abstract domain, but leaves other aspects in the dark. As such, metaphor involves potential bias which can be exploited for reasons of persuasion and manipulation. The « logic » of a metaphor' s source domain is largely preserved in our conception of the target domain. This also holds for the domain of economics. Our reasoning about economics may be predisposed by a number of conventional metaphorical models. Those conventional metaphors of a given community are a reflection ofthat community's conventional patterns of thought and its prevailing ideologies (at that time). Frequency of occurrence can be taken as an indication of« conventionality ». In this framework, the present article offers an analysis of a few conventional metaphorical models in economic discourse advocating a free market ideology. Comparable samples of English, Dutch and French economic discourse show striking differences in frequencies and distribution of the metaphors under examination. These observations may support a (modified) version of the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis, even at the level of closely related languages.