TRUMP’IN BAŞKANLIK KONUŞMASINDAKİ KAVRAMSAL METAFORLAR

Abstract

This study investigates how some conceptual metaphors in Trump's inauguration speech delivered in 2017, contributed to the formation of political discourse. As is often the case, by these speeches, the elected presidents reveal their goals and explain their visions in the national and international arenas. Such presidential speeches aim to persuade people and convey targeted messages and ideologies, using various linguistic tools to impact the masses substantially. Therefore, such speeches are political discourses with implicit and explicit meanings, and in this language, the unique words are meticulously chosen, and all the possibilities of the language are utilized. Accordingly, various linguistic methods and strategies are developed by each speaker, and these strategies are required to be examined. Some studies have been carried out to investigate the connection between language, power, and ideology through linguistic devices. Although various studies deal with the stylistic features of presidential speeches from many aspects, the number of related studies on conceptual metaphors is limited. This study will help us better understand the stylistic features of speech and the use of metaphors persuasively. The study was conducted pragmatically with Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Lakoff and Johnson's Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT). As a result of the study, it is clear that the speech was prepared skilfully to persuade the voters, and the conceptual metaphors used in this direction are distinctive cognitive devices for creating discourse strategies.